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A GREEK IN ALBANIAN COSTUME. 



TURKEY, GREECE, 

AND 

PALESTINE 



IN 18 5 3. 



BY FISHES HOWE. 




GLASGOW: 
WILLIAM COLLINS, NORTH MONTROSE ST. 

LONDON: PATERNOSTER ROW. 



GLASGOW: 
WILLIAM COLLINS AND CO., PRINTERS. 



PJtEFACE. 



Of making many looks there is no end, as Solomon 
wrote three thousand years ago; and though it is 
equally true that much study [reading] is a weariness 
to the fleshy yet reasons will continue to exist, not 
only why books will always be multiplied, but also 
why they ought never to cease, as long as new occa- 
sions for their appearance remain or occur. 

That the volume now to be laid before the public 
should owe its origin to the writer, seems to himself 
no more strange than the various antecedents that 
have led to it. The travel performed, the scenes 
witnessed, the notes taken, the counsel of friends — 
reasons not more trite than true in the present case, 
may suggest something of the way it came to pass. 

It was after some months of extensive exploration 
in Europe, both insular and continental, that, in the 
good providence of our Heavenly Father, we found it 
feasible to extend our tour to the classic land of 
Greece, and the further Orient; till, amid the sacred 
scenes of Palestine, our utmost anticipations of 
achievement were more than realized. 

There, peculiarly, as elsewhere, for personal refer- 
ence and use, we were in the habit of noting the 
hourly incidents as they occurred, of days occupied 
on scenes of ever-enduring interest. 

Safely returned to our own fire-side, and the bosom 
of our family, and renewedly engaged in the busy ac- 
tivities of life, we have occasionally arrested an hour, 
and devoted its minutes to give a more specific form 
to some of our treasured impressions. 



4 



PREFACE. 



It may seem superfluous to say that this volume pre* 
sumes not to occupy the sphere of critical investiga- 
tion, or elaborate, historic and antiquarian research. 
That field has been most diligently explored, and its 
results recorded with an accuracy which, with travel- 
lers in Palestine especially, has become proverbial. 
With this allusion, we take occasion here to express 
the obligations we everywhere felt to our distinguish- 
ed countrymen, Drs. Robinson and Smith, for that 
work — cc Robinson's Biblical Researches" — no less 
valuable to the Biblical student, than indispensable 
to the traveller in Palestine, if he would travel to 
advantage, and make the most of his tour. Other 
guide books and journals of travel we had, but they 
were comparatively of little value. 

One motive that has animated our humble efforts, 
is the hope of usefulness to the teachers of the Sab- 
bath-school and the Bible-class — that noble phalanx, 
whose unremitted and self-denying toils constitute 
one of the brightest signs of the times, and effective 
agencies for the conversion of the world. 

The author has realized something of his responsi- 
bility, and has endeavoured to anticipate the review 
of another day in what has been written and what is 
now published. The current literature of the age 
would surely be modified, and truly improved, were 
all writers to feel, as they ought, their proximity to 
another tribunal than that of human criticism, from the 
impartiality of whose adjudications there is no appeal. 

It only remains to ask for this publication the can- 
dour and favour of the Christian public; and in a 
higher relation, that it may be mercifully used and 
owned of God, and crowned with his all-sufficient 
benediction. 

R H. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER L 

VOYAGE TO THE ADRIATIC AND GULF OF LEPANTO. 

Adelsberg Grotto — Arrival at Trieste — Its Situation and 
Commerce — Visit to Venice — Austrian Lloyd's — Steamer 
Elleno — Embarkation — Arrival at Ancona — Arch of Tra- 
jan — Cathedral — Calabrian Coast — Martello Towers — 
Brundusium — A Roman Depot— Ionian Isles — Corfu- 
Visit on shore — Albanian Coast — Storm on the Adriatic — 
Arrival at Patras — Modern town — Ancient Acropolis — 
Greek Revolution — St. Andrew's Cross — Return to steamer 
— New passengers — Albanian Costume — Gulf of Lepanto 
— Arrival at Lutraki — Corinth in view, Page 17 

CHAPTER IL 

CORINTH AND ITS MONUMENTS. 

Isthmus of Corinth — Cross to Calamaki — Specimen of 
Grecian Life — Return to "Elleno" — Sight of Parnassus — 
Ancient Port of Cenchrea — Early walk to Corinth — Its 
Acropolis — Luxury — - Retributions of Providence — De- 
struction by L. Mummius — Paul at Corinth — Moral 
Power of the Gospel — Magnificent Situation of Corinth — 
Unhealthy — Parnassus in View — Ruin of Temple of 
Minerva — Ride to Saronic Gulf — Ancient Debris — Temple 
of Neptune — Canal of Nero — Passage to Pirgeus — 
Salamis — Arrival at Athens, . . . Page 30 

CHAPTER III. 

ATHENS AND ITS MONUMENTS. 

Advantages and Pleasures of Travel — Magnified Difficulties 
— Comparatively few Americans in the East — Sabbath 
Privileges — Rev. Dr. Hill, Chaplain of the English Em- 
bassy — Rev. Dr. King — Sabbath Desecrations in Athens 
— Bazaars thronged — Otho and his Court— The Palace 



6 



CONTENTS. 



— Population — Paul's second Missionary tour: Lis arrival 
at Athens; his visit in the Market place — Survey of 
Monuments— Paul on Mars Hill — Ancient Altars to 
the Unknown God— Walk to Mara Hill, . Page 39 

CHAPTER IV. 

ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS, AND VISIT TO MARS HILL. 

Visit to Mars Hill— Tower of the Winds— Its Structure 
and Design— The Use of Water Clocks— The Acropolis— 
The Distinctive Feature of Athens — Impregnable to the 
Early Modes of Warfare— Its Extent — Adorned by The- 
mistocles, Cimon, and Pericles — Its Temples — Relation 
of Mars Hill to the Acropolis — Ancient Stone Steps to 
the Areopagus — Socrates there Tried— Seats of Judges — 
Court Held in the Open Air — Reading of Acts xvii — The 
same Temples in Yiew that Paul had in his Eye— The 
Propylaea — The Parthenon — The Erectheum — Temple 
of Theseus — Legend from Plutarch — Legend from Mi- 
dland's History of the Crusades, . . Page 48 

CHAPTER V. 

ATHENS AND ELEUSIS. 

The Explorations of a week — Distinct impressions — Stadium 
of Athens — The Illissus — Temple of Jupiter Olympius — 
Lantern of Demosthenes — The Pnyx — A Soliloquy on our 
Journal — Talley of the Cephissus — Old Olive Trees — 
Hill of Colonus — Parnes Range — Eleusinian Festival — 
Our Yisit to Eleusis — Its Bay — Sacred way — Temple of 
Ceres — Mount Corrydalles — Seat of Xerxes, . Page 60 

CHAPTER VL 

VISIT TO MARATHON. 

Carriage Ride to Cephissa — Ferocious Dogs — Nomadic 
Encampment — Yiew from the Mountain's Side — Marathon 
— Extent of the Plain — Tumulus Mound— Gloomy Scene 
— Yain Search for a Persian Arrow — Return, Page 68 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE PIRJEUSj SYRA AND SMYRNA. 

Evidences of Turkish rule effaced from Greece— Sympathy 
of the Greeks with Russia — Their Persecutions of Dr. 



CONTENTS. 



King — Ancient "Walled Avenue to Piraeus — Departure 
from Athens — A day at the Piraeus — Its Harbour — 
Munichia and Phalcre — A Row in the Harbour — Visit 
to the Tomb of Themistocles — Voyage to Syra — A. Break- 
fast on Shore — Voyage to Smyrna — Its Bay — Scenes of 
the Orient — Approach to the City — Anchorage — Ameri- 
can Consul — Hospitalities of the Orient — American 
Missionaries — Perils of the Way — Population of Smyrna 
— Caravan Bridge — The Missionary Prayer-Meet- 
ing, Page 72 

CHAPTER VIII. 

MOUNT PAGUS AND THE MARTYRDOM OF POLYCARP. 

Walk to Mount Pagus — Turkish Burying-ground — Turbaned- 
headed Stones of Males — Ancient Acropolis of Smyrna — 
Polycarp — The Angel of the Church of Smyrna — His 
Martyrdom — Account of Eusebius — Polycarp Arraigned 
— Proconsul urges him to deny Christ — Polycarp ! s 
Answer — Triumphs of Faith — Return from Mount Pagus 
— Smyrna a depot for Missionary operations in the Orient 
— The Armenian Population — Translations of the Bible 
into Modern Armenian and Armeno-Turkish, Page 82 

CHAPTER IX. 

VOYAGE FROM SMYRNA TO CONSTANTINOPLE, 

Eeturn to the "Germani" — Voyage to Constantinople — 
The Mussulman at Prayer — Arrival at Mitylene — En- 
ter the Dardanelles— Anchorage — Ancient Abydos — Cros- 
sing-place of Xerxes — Leander and Hero — Lord Byron — 
Arrived at Gallipoli — A Night on the Marmora — Arrival 
at Constantinople, . . . . . Page 88 

CHAPTER X. 

CONSTANTINOPLE. 

Population of the City and its Suburbs — Its Subjugation by 
Mahomet Second— its Splendid Position — Scenery De- 
scribed — Anchorage in the Golden Horn — Spacious Har- 
bour — Land at Tophanna — Hotel d'Angleterre Pera — 
Sabbath — Armenian Service — Firman to Visit the Sera- 



8 CONTENTS. 

glio and Mosque — Boat Bridges over the Golden Horn — 
Streets of the City — Seraglio Grounds — Meeting of the Sul- 
tan — His appearance and age — Yisit the Seraglio — Partial 
Description — Mosque of St. Sophia — Erected by Justinian 
— Mosque Achmedje — Monuments on Ancient Hip- 
podrome — Mosque Suilemanye — Mausoleums of Sultans 
— Return to Hotel — Evenings with American Mission- 
aries, Page 92 

CHAPTER XL 

VOYAGE IN THE LEVANT CONSTANTINOPLE TO BEIRUT. 

Constantinople and New York • — Adieu to Missionaries — 
Sun-set View in the Golden Horn — Arrival at Gallipoli 
— The first European city taken by the Turks — Ancient 
Tumuli — The Site of Lampsacus — Lysander's battle- 
ground — Time in passing through the Hellespont — Xer- 
xes' Crossing-place Identified — His Immense Army — 
Crosses the Hellespont in Great Pomp — Returns a Fugitive 
— Alexander's army crosses into Asia — Mount Ida — Leave 
the Strait — Tumuli on Shore — Wind Mills — Alexander 
Troas — Its Ruins— Change since Paul left his Cloak and 
Parchments — Arrival At Smyrna — Embark for Syria — 
Scio and Samos — Patmos, bleak and barren — One of the 
Sporades — Island of Coos — Night at Symi — Arrival at 
Rhodes — Knights of St. John — Their desolated Palaces — 
Arrival at Cyprus — Arrival at Beirut — American Mission- 
aries — Their Character, . . . Page 105 

CHAPTER XII. 

BEIRUT AND THE MISSIONARIES ARABIC SERMON. 

Beirut — Walls — Suburbs — American Missionaries — The 
Karob — " Husks that the Swine did eat" — A Sabbath 
Yalued — Dr. Smith's Arabic Sermon, . Page 118 

CHAPTER XIII. 

ASSYRIAN MONUMENTS ON MOUNT LEBANON. 

The Layard Marbles — Sennacherib's Doom — Monuments in 
the British Museum, and Palace of the Louvre — Ride to 
Nahr El Kelb— Doctor De Forest— Rev. W. F. Williams 
—St. George and the Dragon — The Sides of Lebanon — 



CONTENTS. 



9 



Maronite Tillages— Arrival at the Nahr El Kelb— Roman 
Mile Stone — Sculptures in the Limestone Rock — Egyptian 
Monuments — Assyrian, counterparts of those in the Bri- 
tish Museum: their Wonderful Preservation — The Dog 
River — Turkish and Arabic inscriptions — Return to 
Beirut— Rich reward for our toil, . . Page 125 

CHAPTER XIV. 

SIDON, SAREPTA AND TYRE. 

Lebanon Mountain Range — Anti-Lebanon — Departure from 
Beirut — St. George and the Dragon — Tillages and Olive 
Groves — River Damur — Neby Yunas — Arrival at Sidon — 
A night with American Tice-Consul — Ibrahim Nufchly — 
Journey resumed — A Roman milestone — Distant view of 
Sidon — Arrival at Sarepta— Elijah's sojourn here — Snowy 
tops of Anti-Lebanon — Phenician Plain — Xew Year's 
Day — Cross the Leontes — Arrival at Tyre — Scripture 
Illustrations — Walks around the town — Ruins of a Cathe- 
dral — Predictions of Scripture, , . . Page 135 

CHAPTER XV. 

ANCIENT TYRE ITS RELATION TO PROPHECY. 

Tyre the Subject of Scripture Prophecy — Predicted Destruc- 
tion — Importance of Discrimination between Continental 
and Insular Tyre — Prophetic Denunciations against the 
former— When built — Dr. Robinson's Opinion — Strabo's 
Authority — The Tyrians a Maritime People — Probable 
changes — Ruins of Ancient Columns— Seige of Nebuchad- 
nezzar — Destruction of Insular Tyre by Alexander — 
Literal Fulfilment of Prophecy, . • Page 149 

CHAPTER XVI. 

THE PORTION OF ASHER. 

Jacob's blessing — Allotment of the Tribe — Journey from 
Tyre — Tisit to the Fountains of Ras El Ain — Ladder of 
Tyre: made by Alexander — Crusader's Towers along the 
Coast — Tiew of Carmel from Mount Saron — Arrival at 
Bussah — A Greek Priest: his family — Wretched fruits of 
Mahommedan rule and corrupted Christianity — Journey 
resumed — Plain of A era — Josephus' account — Populousness 
of Galilee in ancient times: now capable of yielding 
" Royal dainties," ..... Page 159 



10 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

ACRA AND CARMEL. 

Destitution of Harbours on the coast — Acra in the distance: 
Accho its ancient name: change to Ptolemais: original 
name retained by the people — Old places identified — 
Paul at Ptolemais— Historic events; called St. Jean d'Acre 
by Crusaders — Vespasian and Titus there: taken by the 
Saracens^ rescued by Richard Cceur d'Lion: the immense 
loss of life involved — Richard's treaty with Saladan — Siege 
by Napoleon — Acra defended by Sir Sidney Smith — 
Great loss of life by the French — Arrival at Acra: visits 
in the city — Departure for Carmel — Bay of Acra — River 
Belus: its sands first used in the manufacture of glass 
— Forded without difficulty — Ride along the Bay — River 
Kishon — Forded in safety — Anchorage under Carmel — 
Kaifa — Carmelite Convent: richest monastery in Pales- 
tine, Page 168 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

ELIJAH AT CARMEL. 

Promontory of Mount Carmel — Relations of Elijah — Char- 
acter of Elijah — The name of Carmel: now a naked ridge 
— Its extent and aspect — Carmelite Convent: view from 
its side: visit to its chapel, and Grotto of Elijah- -Popular 
error respecting the slaying of the Prophets of Baal — A 
night in the Convent — Journey resumed — Splendid view 
from Carmel — Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon — Reach Kaifa: 
tombs in the vicinity — Ride under the side of Carmel — 
Cross the Kishon: width of its channel — Balmy atmos- 
phere — Plain covered with flowers — Bedouin tents — 
Lunch on the Hills of Galilee — New scenes in view — 
Elijah and the Prophets of Baal — Plain of Esdraelon — 
" Battle of Mount Tabor" — Kleber and Napoleon — Jour- 
ney resumed — A company of mounted Bedouins — Perils 
escaped — Roughness of the ride — Arrival at Nazareth, 177 

CHAPTER XIX. 

NAZARETH AND CANA. 

Nazareth invested with peculiar interest — The annunciation 
to Mary — The Empress Helena — Visit to Palestine — 
Erected churches over sacred places — Description of Naz- 



CONTENTS. 



II 



areth — Daguerreotype view — Accommodations for travel- 
lers — Convent and Church of the Annunciation — Yisit to 
the Grotto — The Loretto chapel — Transported by angels — 
The legend related— Frauds of Popery — Walk to the 
ancient "Fountain of the Virgin" — Large water-jars of 
the women — Night in the village — Journey to Tiberias — 
Cana of Galilee — Women at the Fountain — The site dis- 
puted by Dr. Eobinson — Sight of Tabor — Fine valley — 
Ard-el-Hamma — Lunch upon battle-ground of the Crusa- 
ders — The reputed "true cross" taken by the Saracens — 
Disastrous results to the Crusaders — Journey resumed — 
Pass Tell Hattin — View of the Lake of Tiberias — Miracle 
of feeding the five thousand — Safed in view — Impending 
storm — Arrival at Tiberias, . . . Page 186 

CHAPTER XX. 

TIBERIAS AND ITS LAKE, 

Period of present town — Ruined Walls — Earthquake — Mis- 
erable Houses — Bazaars with ancient columns — Church of 
St. Peter — The Lake— Its extent — Surface below the Medi- 
terranean — Depth ascertained by Lt. Lynch — Gloom 
around — No boat upon its waters — Storm — Hotel Accom- 
modations — Annoyances at Night — Storm abated in the 
morning — Collating Scripture — Yisit to Church of St. 
Peter — View from the house top — The storm upon the 
Lakes — Aspect of its Eastern Scenery — " City set upon a 
Bill" — Tiberias of the New Testament — Built by Herod 
Antipas — Josephus' Account — Explorations — Site of the 
City — An Ancient Colonnade — Hot Springs and Bath 
Houses — Entrance of Ancient Tombs — Discovery of a 
Euined Temple — Another night in Tiberias, Page 197 

CHAPTER XXI. 

MOUNT TABOR. 

Departure from Tiberias — Eide along the Lake shore — Dil- 
apidated Walls — Ascent of the western Hills — Yiew of the 
Lake — Sites of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum un- 
known — Eeflections — Tell Hattin the Mount of Beati- 
tudes — Old Caravan Track — Khan El-Tujjar — An Arab 
Pair — Bedouin encampment — Arrival at Mount Tabor: its 



12 



CONTENTS. 



partial ascent— Mount of Transfiguration — Objections of 
Dr. Eobinson not satisfactory — Reasons assigned — Lunch 
upon the Mountain side-— Return to Nazareth, Page 207 

CHAPTEE XXII. 

THE MISSION OF JEHU. 

The Character of Jehu — Self-styled reformers of the present 
age — Importance of knowledge of local relations in reading 
Scripture narratives — Saul at Endor — Christ at Nain — 
Mountain of Gilboa — Elishaat Shunem — Yalley of Jezreel 
— Beth-Shan in view — Saul's Death — King Joram's War — 
Sick at Jezreel — Elisha sends to Eamoth-Gilead and 
anoints Jehu king — Jehu's Commission — Scene of Jehu's 
exploits — Destruction of the house of Ahab, Page 213 



CHAPTEE XXIII. 

SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 

Plain of Esdraelon — Lunch on the vineyard of Naboth — A 
Night at Jenin — Scenery in view — Journey to Samaria — 
Its fine situation — Ancient terraces — Columns — Walled 
and adorned by Herod — Euins of the Church of St. John 
the Baptist — His place of Execution considered — Jose- 
phus* account not reliable — The modern villagers — At- 
tempted robbery — Continued explorations — Extended 
colonnade — Historic review, . . . Page 220 



CHAPTEE XXIV. 

MOUNT GERIZIM AND JACOBUS WELL. 

Departure from Samaria — Lunch by the way — Eide to Na- 
blous — Late arrival — Ebal and Gerizim — Night at Nablous 
— Journey resumed — Visit to the Samaritan Synagogue — 
Their ancient Pentateuch — Visit to Mount Gerizim — Sa- 
maritan Keblah — Ruins of an ancient fortress — Scenery in 
view — Reflections on past history — Descent into the val- 
vey— The Tomb of Joseph— Its identity— The Well of Ja- 
cob — Christ at the well — Scripture authenticated, Page 236 



CONTENTS. 



13 



CHAPTER XXV. 

GOING UP TO JERUSALEM. 
Departure from the Well of Jacob — Ride in the valley 
where Abraham and Jacob fed their flocks — Night at 
SiD.jil — Journey to Jerusalem Vineyards— Lunch at Bethel 
— Jacob at Bethel — Raman and Gibeon — Songs of De- 
grees — View of Jerusalem — Entrance of the City — Thank- 
ful recollections, . . . Page 2±5 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

WALKS ABOUT ZIOX. 

First impressions — Topographic features unchanged — Mo- 
dern Walls — Population of Jerusalem— The Jews — Their 
place of wailing — Mosque of Omar— Kedron Valley — A 
Storm-brook — Popular error — Calvary — Church of Holy 
Sepulchre — Miracles of the church — Gross superstitions — 
Greek chapel — Centre of the earth, . . Page 252 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

WALKS ABOUT ZION. 

Walls of the City at different periods of Jewish history — De- 
molished by Pompey — Rebuilt by Antipater — Third wall 
of Agrippa— Site of Golgotha — Circuit of walls — Upper 
Pool of Gihon — An ancient excavation — Indications of the 
line of "second wall" — Kedron Valley — Olivet — Ancient 
pathway: David's flight over it from Absalom — Gethse- 
mane — Tombs in the Valley — Absalom and others — Xot 
authentic — Height of eastern wall — Elevation of Temple 
area — Moslem judgment column — Evening scene from 
house-top, ..... Page 263 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

WALKS ABOUT ZIOS. 

A ride in company with Eev. J. Nicolayson — Valley of Hin- 
nom — Lower pool of Gihon — Solomon there anointed 
king — Ancient Tombs— The Aceldama — VTell of En Kogel 
— Pool of Siloam — Fountain of the Virgin — Ride over 
Olivet to Bethany — Return over the summit to Church of 
the Ascension — Scopus — Return to city — Walk to Olivet 
— Tomb of the Virgin — Gethsemane — Church of the 
Ascension— View from Olivet, . . Page 274 



14: CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

JOHX IN THE WILDERNESS. 

The mission of the Baptist — Place selected for its prosecution 
— Open to Infidel objections — Progressive confirmation of 
Scripture — Journey to Jericho — Bedouin protectors — 
Visit toGethsemane — Old olive trees — Arrival at Bethany 
— Scenery in view — Caves and tombs — Fountain of the 
Apostles — The Good Samaritan — Desolate region — Be- 
douin tent — Wilderness of Judea — N aked hills — Predic- 
tions of Isaiah — Pulpit of John — The way-side on this 
ancient high- way in the wilderness — Wady Kelt — The 
scene in view — Historic retrospect — Preaching of John — 
Adaptation of the scene— Prophecy fulfilled — Objections 
refuted, Page 286 

CHAPTER XXX. 

JERICHO AND ITS PLAIN. 

Early impressions respecting this plain — Its deep depression 
— Tropical climate — Irrigation — Always a barren desert 
— Josephus's description — Eemarkable sand mounds — 
Fountain of Elisha — Site of ancient city — Dates the "wild 
honey " — Food of John the Baptist — Quarantina moun- 
tain — Crusaders' tower — Night encampment — Industry of 
the ladies — Bedouin women — Arab songs — Night annoy- 
ances — Source of safety, . . . Page 300 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

RIDE TO THE JORDAN. 

The Castle of Jericho: view from its top — Departure for the 
Jordan — Cultivated fields — Ruined Sugar Houses — Sugar 
Cane not now cultivated: originally introduced by the 
Saracens — Michaud — Desolate appearance of the Plain — 
"View of the Great Hermon — Grotesque appearance of our 
cavalcade — Negro Slaves: their price: condition — Com- 
parison of Oriental and American slavery — Sand mounds 
— Calcined Sulphur — A Gazelle — Yalley of the Jordan — 
Arrival on its banks, .... Page 308 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

THE RIVER JORDAN. 

Traditional places where John baptized — Custom of modern 
pilgrims — Perils attending — A staff from the banks of 



CONTEXTS. 



15 



Jordan — Crossing-place of the tribes of old — "River never 
overflows— Dr. Eobinson's view — Explorations of Lt. 
Lynch — Facts ascertained — Rapid descent — Obvious in- 
ference, Page 316 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 

Evils of sectarian strife deplored — Occasion of the subject en- 
gaging attention — Considered on Scripture localities — 
John's aim in repairing to the Jordan — Oriental Manners 
and Customs indicate pouring of water as the original 
mode of Baptism — Places designated where John preached 
and Baptized — The Wilderness — The River Jordan— 
Bethabara — Enon — Period of John's labours — Peculiarity 
of his character — Remarkable character of the Jordan 
Yalley — No villages on its banks — Stream turbid, rapid 
and dangerous — Fountain of Elisha — Bethabara — Enon — 
Place of springs of water — A resting-place for travellers — 
Its probable locality, « Page 325 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

THE DEAD SEA. 

Departure from the Jordan — Thoughts of home — Ride to the 
Dead Sea — Region of desolation — Arrival at northern 
shore of sea — Gloomy scene — Lunch on its shore — Water 
clear, salt and bitter — Extent of the lake — Western hills 
— Moab — Lt. Lynch's survey — No bitumen at the present 
day — Rapid process of Evaporation — Waters of Jordan 
absorbed, ...... Page 342 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

BETHLEHEM. 

Return from the Jordan— Continued walks about Zion— 
Preparations for journey — Departure from Jerusalem — 
Plains of Rephaim— Wind storm— Tomb of Rachel- 
Arrival at Bethlehem — Convents and Church of the Na- 
tivity—Grotto of the Nativity— Cell of Jerome— Fields of 
Boaz— David anointed by Samuel —Song of Angels, 349 



16 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



JOURNEY TO HEBRON. THE CAVE OF MACHPELAH. 

Eemarks of Dr. Paley on the Scriptures — Their pertinency 
— Tested by the Traveller in Palestine — Departure from 
Bethlehem — Pools of Solomon — Lunch at Bethzur — An- 
cient tombs — View ot Mediterranean — Yalley of Eschol — 
Arrival at Hebron — Tomb of Abraham — Our view of the 
Yalley — A night at Hebron, . . . Page 360 



Topography and seasons in Palestine — Their relation to 
Biblical exegesis — Philip at Samaria — His journey — Joins 
the Ethiopian Eunuch — The Eunuch baptized — Manner of 
its performance considered — A night on the Plain — Wady 
Sim Sim — Dr. Eobinson at Wady El Hasy — Climate and 
seasons unchanged, Page 369 



A SCENE ON THE DESERT \ OR, THE MUSIC OF THE 



Philistine plain — Arrival at Gaza — Dismissal of horse and 
muleteers — Sheikh engaged to conduct to Egypt — Gaza — 
Departure — Arrival at El Arisch — River of Egypt — 
Quarantine — Proceed on our journey — Scenes on the 



CHAPTER XXXVIL 



PHILIP AND THE EUNDCH. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



SPHERES. 



Desert, 



Page 378 




Page 



386 



CHAPTER XL. 

DATES THE "WILD HONEY " OF JOHN THE BAP- 
TIST, Page 391 



CHAPTEK L 

VOYAGE IN THE ADRIATIC AND GULF OF LEPANTO. 

Adelsberg Grotto: The finest in Europe— Arrival at Trieste 
— Its situation and Commerce — Prevalence of Cholera — 
Visit to Venice — Austrian Lloyd's — Steamer Elleno — Em- 
barkation — Arrival at Ancona — Arch of Trajan — Cathedral 
— Calabrian Coast — Martello Towers — Brundusium — A Ro- 
man Depot — Ionian Isles — Corfu — Yisit on shore — Alban- 
ian Coast — Storm on the Adriatic — Arrival at Patras — 
Modern town — Ancient Acropolis — Greek Revolution — 
St. Andrew's Cross — Return to steamer — New passengers — 
Albanian Costume— Gulf of Lepanto — Productions and 
population of Greece — Arrival at Lutraki — Corinth in view. 

The finest cavern in Europe is the Grotto of 
Adelsberg, which no traveller in Southern Ger- 
many should fail to see. Its vast and truly mag- 
nificent compartments, brilliantly illuminated for 
our special benefit, we had, in our morning visit, 
explored to the extent of a mile and a half. Its 
rushing river, natural bridge, fountains, water- 
falls, vast compartments, with their stalactite 
and stalagmite columns, natural drapery, and 
numberless curious and remarkable natural for- 
mations, afforded interesting themes of review, 
in our afternoon ride, of six hours, to Trieste. 

The darkness of evening had gathered around 

B 



18 



VOYAGE IN THE ADRIATIC 



us, before we reached the brow of the high lands, 
which overhang the head of the Adriatic, and 
from which we looked down upon the city. 
The illuminated houses and streets presented to 
our view a beautiful appearance, as we descend- 
ed the steep and circuitous road, on the moun- 
tain side, to the city. 

Our interesting tour through Germany ter- 
minated at Trieste, the principal seaport of 
Austria, and a place of known commercial im- 
portance. It has very few other attractions. Pro- 
tected as it is, by the elevated country which 
rises abruptly on its north, I should infer that 
its winter climate must be warm and pleasant. 
We were glad to see the stripes and stars flying 
at the masts of some of the shipping in the har- 
bour. The town is pleasantly situated at the 
head of the Adriatic. The heterogeneous 
throng met in the streets, the market and the 
exchange — the Greek, the Turk, and the Arab 
from the coast of Africa, each clad in his own 
peculiar costume, — 'gives admonition that you 
are near the confines of the Orient. 

The prevalence of the cholera in Trieste, as 
well as in other European cities, had induced 
rigid quarantine regulations in the Ionian Isles, 
and the ports of Greece. The regular inter- 
course by steam was thus interrupted, and for 
a short season an insuperable barrier to our 
plans of travel seemed to be interposed. 



AND GULF OP LEPANTO. 19 

We improved this detention by an excursion 
to Venice, where a week was occupied most 
agreebly amid its decaying palaces. There 
we met a party of two gentlemen, with their 
ladies, and a third, a physician with his sister, 
all from Philadelphia, who had the same object 
before them as ourselves, — a visit to Greece, 
Palestine, and Egypt. These, with Mrs. H. 
and our niece, composed our party as far as 
Athens. By concerted arrangements we all 
met at Trieste, where, to our great joy, our large 
party induced the Lloyd's Company to despatch 
us in one of their steamers, conditioned, that if 
we were compelled to perform a quarantine, it 
should be done upon the steamer. 

There is a daily line of steam packets between 
Trieste and Venice. The Austrian Lloyd's 
Company run their steamers also to all the 
principal ports on the eastern part of the Medi- 
terranean. With them we engaged our passage 
to Constantinople, as considerable expense is 
saved by taking through tickets, which are good 
on any of the boats for ample time to allow one 
to visit all the intermediate places of interest. 

We embarked on the steamer Elleno, and 
left Trieste at four o'clock P. M. 5 November 
14th. The following day at noon, we reached 
Ancona, on the Italian side of the Gulf. This 
is a very ancient seaport, and now the principal 
one on the Adriatic, of "the States of the Church" 



20 



VOYAGE IX THE ADRIATIC 



or pertaining to " Peter's patrimony? TTe 
found it occupied by Austrian troops, fit instru- 
ments to coerce the people into submission to 
the despotic and hated rule of the Pope, 
Julius Caesar made a stand here after passing 
the Rubicon. At a later period Trajan im- 
proved the harbour by the construction of a 
mole at its entrance. 

We landed and visited a beautiful triumphal 
arch, erected upon the mole in honour of Tra- 
jan, by his mother and sister. It is of the 
Corinthian order, neat and well proportioned, 
and in good preservation. From the arch we 
went to the cathedral, on the high summit of 
the promontory, and the site of a heathen tem- 
ple. The hills, or rather high ridge, which 
nearly encircle the harbour, form a kind of 
amphitheatre, on the sides of which the town 
is built, the lights of which, at night, are seen 
from our steamer, exhibited a very picturesque 
scene. At midnight we got up our steam, and 
proceeded on our voyage. 

On the 17th, we were off the Calabrian coast, 
and could see, with the aid of a glass, numerous 
4 villages and cities. The houses appeared to be 
of stone, whitewashed, and in the distance pre- 
sented a cheerful appearance. At intervals we 
discovered a series of Marteilo, or high round 
towers — the telegraph stations of the middle 
ages. Signal fires were kindled upon them on 



AND GULF OF LEPANTO. 



21 



the approach of an enemy, especially the dreaded 
Turk, and the intelligence was thus quickly sent 
up the entire coast. At ten o'clock, A. M., 
we reached Brundise, the ancient Brundusiura, 
on the very heel of the Italian peninsula, the 
great thoroughfare of the Romans in their in- 
tercourse with the East. Their large fleet was 
usually stationed here. It was very advantage- 
ously situated for a naval depot, and the trans- 
portation of troops. It now has a castle, but is 
a place of very little importance. We did not 
land, and soon proceeded on our voyage to 
Corfu, which we reached at an early hour on 
the following, or Sabbath morning. 

Corfu is one of the most important of the 
Ionian Islands. It is the residence of the Eng- 
lish governor, or Lord High Commissioner. 
Its high and commanding citadel is garrisoned 
by English troops. The rugged Albanian 
coast is not more than one or two miles distant. 
The Ionian Isles came under the British sway 
in 1814; since which period, they have exercised 
a protectorate over them. We went on shore, 
hoping to be able to attend the English service, 
in the chapel of the citadel, but found it com- 
menced at too late an hour to admit 
our stay. K"o one would ever conjecture it had 
been the Sabbath, from the scenes of business 
and bustle seen in the narrow and crooked 
streets of the town. We visited two of the 



22 



VOYAGE IN THE ADRIATIC 



Greek churches in which the mummeries of 
their worship were in progress. 

The Venetians formerly held the Ionian 
Islands. The lion of St. Mark still keeps his 
place at some of the portals of the town. Re- 
turning to the steamer, we got under way in 
the afternoon, and proceeded on our voyage to 
Patras. As we left the harbour we saw up one 
of the inlets a little island having a striking re- 
semblance to a sail-boat — the celebrated " sail 
of Ulysses." The Greek coast is destitute of 
light-houses, which in the storm that now over- 
took us, increased the perils of the night, in 
the darkness of which, we thought of the apostle 
Paul, as he was " driven up and down in Adria," 
(Acts 27: 27,) in one of these same Sirocco 
tempests, that beat upon our bark, more fav- 
oured with steam power to contend with it. 

At ten o'clock, A. M., our steamer anchored 
before Patras. We landed in our small boat 
to visit the town and its ancient Acropolis. 
This modern town has come into existence since 
the Greek revolution, and is a place of some 
commerce. The streets have been laid out 
wide, and regularly at right angles to each 
other. They are not, however, graded or 
paved, and we found them extremely muddy. 
The region being subject to earthquakes, the 
houses are low. The population is said to be 
7,000. There is quite a number of stores and 



AND GULF OF LEPANTO. 



23 



manufacturing shops, which, miserable as is the 
place, impart to it some appearance of thrift. 

They claim for Patras the honour of striking 
the first blow in the revolution which emanci- 
pated Greece from the sway of the Turk: the 
banner of the cross and of freedom, having been 
raised by Germanos, its Archbishop, on the 2nd 
day of April, 1821. 

Passing through the town we reached the 
Acropolis, in its rear. It is still surrounded 
with walls, the greater part of which are of 
modern date, and now somewhat dilapidated. 
The elevated and favourable position of this 
fortress made it quite a stronghold for the Turks, 
during much of the war. A temple of Diana 
once stood within its enclosure. 

The town stands on a narrow plain, which 
extends for several miles along the bay. We 
w r ere informed that large quantities of the small 
black grape usually designated in commerce, as 
"Zante currants," are here produced. The 
vines we saw, much resembled the ordinary 
French grape-vine in their appearance. After 
our descent from the Acropolis, some of our 
party repaired to the small church of St. 
Andrew, situated near the sea-shore, to the 
north-west of the town. Here is shown a 
fountain or spring of water, and a vault, sup- 
posed by the Greeks to have once contained the 
remains of the apostle Andrew, from which his 



24 



VOYAGE IN THE ADRIATIC 



relics were subsequently removed to Constanti- 
nople. According to tradition, he here suffered 
martyrdom by crucifixion. 

The Greek cross which is nearly in the form 
of an X, is called St. Andrew's cross, from the 
circumstance that he is said to have suffered 
upon one of this shape. It is the universal 
badge of the Greek churches, which, in the 
form of their structure, are made somewhat to 
resemble it. This spot was once sacred to 
Ceres, as the patron deity of Patras, and by an 
easy transition the honours of the goddess have 
been turned over to the apostle. I think this 
tradition respecting the martyrdom of Andrew 
is entitled to some respect: it has a high anti- 
quity, although accounts are contradictory. 

Thus far on our voyage from Trieste, our 
party had been the sole passengers for most of 
the distance; but now we found, on returning 
on board, the deck of our steamer was thickly 
covered with a motley multitude; chiefly, how- 
ever, Albanians, in their peculiar costume. 
That of the better class of men is gay and ex- 
pensive, and may be deemed splendid; at any 
rate the Greeks seem very partial, if not proud 
of it. A skirt of white cotton cloth reaching 
down to the calf of the leg, is its most remark- 
able feature. We shall be supposed to be deal- 
ing in the fabulous, if we tell the number of 
yards of cloth required to make one — thirty 



AND GULF OF LEPANTO. 25 

yards was named to us, cut into four hundred 
gores, and thickly plaited. The shirt has a 
wide collar, turned flatly down on the jacket, 
which is made of cloth, richly embroidered. It 
is a round-about, with sleeve open or slitted on 
the inside from the arm-pit to the elbow. 
Gaiters reaching to the knee of red, blue, or 
other gay-coloured cloth, richly embroidered, 
and slippers, a red felting cap with heavy blue 
silk tassel, completes the description as far as I 
noted it down at the time. At Athens we sub- 
sequently and often saw King Otho in this 
costume. 

Many of our passengers were poorly clad, 
and looked as if they had spent their days in 
savage warfare. Their long bondage under the 
Turks, and final sanguinary struggle with them 
for freedom, has left an impression of ferocity 
on the Greek character, more particularly the 
peasantry, which w r ill require long years to 
efface. In fact, our contact with them has 
left no very happy impression of their moral 
qualities. 

Before one o'clock, P. M., we had got under 
way, and soon reached the entrance of the Gulf 
of Lepanto. On each side of this narrow pass- 
age a somewhat formidable fortress projects 
into the water. I estimated the distance be- 
tween the forts to be one mile. This immediate 
region was the theatre of a memorable sea-fight 



26 



VOYAGE m THE ADRIATIC 



in October 1571, between tbe combined Chris- 
tian fleet and that of the Turks. It resulted in 
the capture or destruction of the entire Otto- 
man force, and was one of the early signals of 
the triumph of the cross over the crescent, at 
that period so portentous to Europe. At three 
P. M., we reached the little town of Lepanto, 
situated on the northern side of the Gulf. It 
stands on the steep slope of a naked hill, the 
w T alls running up from the water, forming nearly 
a triangle, with two cross walls parallel with 
the water, making three compartments. With 
the aid of my glass I noticed some old fluted 
columns in the west part of the tow 7 n. It has 
a small artificial harbour. It is, however, a 
place of little importance. The rugged hills 
press down upon the Gulf on either side, gener- 
ally to appearance naked, rocky and barren. 
This region, however, as well as the Ionian Isles, 
produces large quantities of the small grape, 
before referred to, as known under the name of 
Zante or black currants. They form one of 
the chief articles of export of the Greeks. 
Olive- oil is produced in considerable quantities, 
and some w T ine for domestic use, as only a 
Greek w T ould drink their wine, it is so strongly 
impregnated with rosin. Agriculture is con- 
ducted by them on the same rude principles that 
it was three thousand years ago. While tra- 
velling in the country we saw them using the 



AND GULF OF LEPANTO. 



27 



same plough that Hesiod describes in his time — 
a rude stick tipped with iron. The govern- 
ment of Otho we were informed had made at- 
tempts to introduce the improved implements 
and modes of husbandry of Europe, but with 
little success. They succeed much better in 
commerce than in agriculture. I learned that 
the population of Greece, including the Islands, 
in 1840, was 826,470, occupying 12,000,000 
acres of land, or about 14,000 square miles of 
territory. From various causes I judge the in- 
crease of population is slow, and there is no 
earthly inducement for the excessive population 
of Europe to emigrate here. The natural jeal- 
ousy of the Greeks would be an insuperable 
obstacle, and the country, as far as it came 
under my observation, is wretched in the ex- 
treme. In the Morea I understand there are 
fine lands, and at the north, in ancient Mace- 
donia, there are better lands and a better race 
of Greeks. 

At six o'clock, P. M., we reached Vostizza 
on the south side of the Gulf. This is the site 
of the ancient iEgium. Our boat anchored for 
some six hours, but I did not land. We then 
proceeded to Lutracki, where we reached our 
anchorage at six o'clock, A, M., the end of our 
voyage in the Elleno, concerning whose sea- 
worthiness we had experienced some fears dur- 
ing our tempestuous passage from Trieste. 



28 



VOYAGE IN THE ADRIATIC 



This depot of the Austrian LloycTs steamer is 
situated at the head of the Gulf of Oorinth. 
The Company have here a small building for a 
store-house. There are also a few miserable 
huts in the vicinity occupied by Greeks. 

Oorinth lies directly across the bay, in the 
south, in full view. Its Acropolis, a massive 
and rocky eminence, rises most abrubtly 1,800 
feet high, and appears much nearer to us than 
it is in reality, as it is three or four miles back 
from the bay, and the whole distance from our 
anchorage is eight miles or more. With the 
aid of my glass we had a good view of the 
general outlines of its commanding situation. 

" The whirlwind's wrath, the earthquake's shock, 
Have left untouched her hoary rock. 
The keystone of a land, which still, 
Though, fall'n, looks proudly on that hill; 
The landmark to the double tide 
That purpling rolls on either side, 
As if their waters chafed to meet, 
Yet pause and crouch beneath her feet." 

Our captain, a rare specimen of ill-nature and 
intemperance, is determined that we shall enjoy 
no nearer view of those scenes classic and sacred, 
as we are to be hurried across the Isthmus to 
Calamaki on its eastern side, there to take 
another steamer to Athens. In the immediate 
vicinity of our anchorage on the shore there are 
some very hot springs, gushing from the base 



ANT> GULF OF LEPANTO. 



29 



of the overhanging mountain directly into the 
bay. From the great use made of such springs 
by the Romans, wherever found in their extend- 
ed conquests, I have litte doubt that these 
waters were much resorted to in Apostolic days, 
and it was a reasonable conjecture that when 
we repaired to them we were treading on ground 
over which Paul and his companions had per- 
haps frequently walked during " the year and 
six months he continued teaching the word of 
God" to the Corinthians. (Acts 18: 11.) 



CHAPTER II. 

CORINTH AND ITS MONUMENTS. 

Isthmus of Corinth—Cross to Calamaki— "New WineinNew 
Bottles" — Specimen of Grecian Life — Return to "Elleno" 
— Sight of Parnassus — Ancient Port of Cenchrea — A 
Dilemma — Early Walk to Corinth— Its Acropolis — Luxury 
— Retributions of Providence — -Destruction by L. Mum- 
mius — Paul at Corinth — Moral Power of the Gospel- 
Magnificent Situation of Corinth — Unhealthy — Parnassus 
in View— Ruin of Temple of Minerva— A Poor Breakfast 
— Ride to Saronic Gulf— Ancient Debris— Temple of Nep- 
tune --Canal of Nero— Passage to Piraeus — Salamis— 
Arrival at Athens. 

At ten o'clock, A. M., we left the steamer, 
and in carriages provided for us, proceeded over 
the Isthmus of Corinth to Calamaki, the pre- 
sent seaport on its eastern side. The steamer 
from Athens, or rather the Piraus, had not ar- 
rived when we reached there, and we occupied 
some hours in climbing the high ridges of the 
Isthmus in the vicinity, and in explorations among 
the shops and hovels of the village, where, for 
the first time, we saw a practical illustration of 
Matt. 9: 17— "Neither do men put new wine 
into old bottles; else the bottles break, and the 
wine runneth out, and the bottles perish." Their 



CORINTH AND ITS MONUMENTS. 31 

wine and oil. as well as other liquids, are put 
into the skins of the black goat. 

Here too we had a specimen of Greek life: 
the common people, like most Eastern nations, 
never undress at night, and like the Arabs sleep 
on the ground, or floor of the dwelling, if it 
have any. We noticed in some of the houses 
here an improvement which may have been 
specially designed for the numerous travellers 
who are occasionally detained: it was a kind 
of elevated scaffold on which the inmates 
sleep. 

The Austrian Lloyd's Company have here 
quite an imposing depot. The saloon is large, 
but for those who require a bed to sleep on, they 
have no accommodations for the night. The 
steamer from Athens not appearing, we were 
compelled to re-cross the Isthmus in the after- 
noon, to spend another night on the " Elleno." 
Oil our return ride we enjoyed a fine view of 
Parnassus, now (Nov. 22nd) covered with snow. 

The small ancient port of Oenchrea, from 
which Paul embarked in company "with Pris- 
cilla and Aquila" on his return into Syria, is 
situated at the head of the Saronic Gulf, near 
its southern side, some three miles distant from 
Calamaki, and seven or eight east of Corinth. 
Whether it was Paul or Aquila who there 
shaved his head, " for he had a vow," (Acts 18: 
18,) critics are not agreed, and no great harm 



32 CORINTH AND ITS MONUMENTS. 

will result in consequence of a diversity of 
opinion in this regard. 

Arrived at the " Elleno," and again tantal- 
ized with the sight of Corinth, which now more 
than ever we were anxious to visit, we opened a 
negociation with our captain, for him to design- 
ate some hour on the morrow for our departure 
from Oalamaki, which would admit the gentle- 
men of our party who wished it, to visit 
Corinth, and from thence proceed across the 
Isthmus and meet the steamer in due time, but 
all to no avail; the surly man seemed a stranger 
to every feeling of accommodation, or of sym- 
pathy with those who desired to look on the 
objects of antiquity. In every other instance 
in our long travels in the Levant, we found the 
officers of the steamers exceedingly polite and 
obliging. 

In this dilemma, late at night, three of us 
resolved to rise at an early hour in the morning, 
and hazard the experiment of walking to Corinth 
— a toil and risk I should not like again to take. 
Cautioning the ladies to be in no haste in rising, 
or in making their preparations to leave the 
steamer, I left them to re-cross the Isthmus, in 
the care of my courier, and at five o'clock, 
A. M., we set off on our enterprise. Proceeding 
to one of the hovels on shore, we engaged a 
young Greek as a guide, and pursued our way 
round the head of the bay. 



CORINTH AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



S3 



This part of the route was sandy and level, 
and much of the entire distance was rough and 
tedious — the last mile or more a toilsome ascent, 
in accomplishing which it was my misfortune to 
be burthened with heavy boots. A walk of 
three and a half hours brought us, at half-past 
eight o'clock, to the foot of the Acro-Corinthus, 
upon the elevated plat or tableland where once 
rose and flourished Corinth — the eye of Greece, 
pre eminently beautiful and commanding in its 
position, distinguished for its learning, wealth 
and luxury; an early centre of commerce and 
the arts, but dissolute, even to a proverb. Venus 
was the chief goddess of the city, and courtezans 
her priestesses. A retributive Providence early 
humbled her pride, and laid her glory in the 
dust. Eome, envying her political and com- 
mercial advantages, regarded her with jealousy 
equalled only by that she cherished toward Car- 
thage, and ere long found a pretext to send her 
legions, who, under Mummius, with fire and 
sword laid her in ruins, transporting her choicest 
sculpture to Eome, B. C. 146. Subsequently, 
Julius Coesar repaired her desolations, and she 
regained much of her former importance, as well 
as licentious character, under the Eoman sway. 
But her glory and her shame have long since 
departed. 

The apostle Paul came here from Athens, 

about A. D. 52, where he found Aquila and 

c 



34 



CORINTH AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



his wife Priscilla, and remained " a year and six 
months" preaching with eminent success. It 
was truly one of the distinguishing glories of the 
Gospel, that among such a people it should 
achieve its brighest triumphs; evincing to all 
succeeding ages that the " preaching of Christ 
crucified*" is the only recuperative influence that 
can reach man's deep ruin. All the efforts of 
the sages of Greece to reclaim mankind had 
been tested and failed — the mournful verdict 
was reached, " the world by wisdom knew not 
God;" and that is the brightest page in the his- 
tory of Corinth, that inspiration has left on 
record in its oracles, such a testimony as that 
we find, Acts 18: 10, "1 have much people in 
this citv." It was during this residence in 
Corinth that Paul wrote his two epistles to the 
Thessalonians. 1 Thess. 3: 6. 

But we must return to our narrative. Ar- 
rived at Corinth, we felt that the toils we had 
undergone to reach it were amply compensated. 
The situation is certainly magnificent. The 
plain and bay below, and country around, pre- 
sent to the eye a landscape of rare beauty. In 
the north, and westward, the Gulf of Corinth 
is seen for many miles. Parnassus, sacred to 
Apollo and the Muses, rises all unveiled beyond. 
The Saronic Gulf is not here seen as the high 
ground on the eastern side of the Isthmus, 
which borders it, intercepts the view, except 



CORINTH AXD ITS MONUMENTS. 



35 



upon the Acropolis, to which we had not time or 
strength to repair. The panoramic view from 
its summit is said to be very splendid — pro- 
bably the most interesting in Greece. From 
it the Acropolis of Athens, at the distance of 
forty miles, may be distinctly seen. 

The site of Corinth is uneven, the western por- 
tion particularly, having a rapid descent north- 
ward toward the distant bay. It is abundantly 
watered by springs from the base of the Acro- 
polis. Since the Greek revolution, quite a town 
has sprung up here, but the location is very un- 
healthy. This circumstance, if no other, pre- 
cluded it from becoming the capital of the new 
kingdom, under Otho. Why it should be so 
unhealthy here ^ could not easily account, as 
the situation is high, and well drained. The ; 
malaria of the plain is doubtless the source of 
the evil. There are many ruined and desolate 
walls of dwellings destroyed in the devastating 
war of the revolution still standing. We ex- 
amined a number of places of historic interest 
which are pointed out to the traveller. One 
monument alone of her early grandeur and her 
Paganism, has survived the vicissitudes of a 
hundred generations of human beings, who have 
lived and disappeared from its view — the Tem- 
ple of Minerva Chalamatis. Seven majestic 
Doric columns of this ancient edifice remain in 
their original position — five of these belonged 



36 CORINTH AND ITS MONUMENTS. 

I 

to one of its fronts, and three to one of its sides, 
counting the column at the angle twice. Of 
these, three on the side, and two adjoining on 
the front, still support their entablature; the 
] architrave of both the others is gone. They 
i are limestone monoliths, near six feet in diam- 
| eter at their base, heavy, and ill-proportioned. 
I This temple is supposed to have been erected 
I B.C. 700, which may well account for its archi- 
tectural defects. It stands in close proximity 
! to the present village. 

As I stood and examined this relic of anti- 
quity, my thoughts instinctively ran back, 1,800 
I years, to that period when the great Apostle to 
I the Gentiles trod over this ground, and his keen 
eye rested upon this very temple; even then 
• hoary in its antiquity. His ardent spirit w T as 
here doubtless often " stirred within him" as he 
I witnessed the degrading vices and idolatries of 
the Corinthians; and I searched around to find 
| some memento to bear away. A leaf of the 
nettle and the mallow for our herbarium, was 
all I could obtain ! 

After procuring a breakfast, the most sub- 
stantial part of which was boiled eggs, we char- 
tered a rude waggon to convey us with all haste 
to Calamaki. We spread on the bottom of 
our springless vehicle one of those huge and 
hooded Greek overcoats (a la capuchin) which, 
glad as we were to be able to procure even that, 
I 



CORINTH AND ITS MONUMENTS. 37 

was no enviable seat for weary travellers to oc- 
cupy for a rough ride of eight or ten miles. 
About half a mile east of the village, we stopp- 
ed for a walk of some distance over the plain, 
northward, where is seen on the terrace below, 
the obvious site of an amphitheatre. Further 
on, we passed the massive foundations of some 
ancient structures. Brick, pottery, and other 
debris is thickly scattered for miles over the 
extended plain. At a distance of five or six 
miles from Corinth, we passed the buildings oc- 
cupied by the Greek colony, founded by Dr. 
Howe, of Boston, subsequent to the Greek re- 
volution. A mile further, we reached the high 
ground overlooking the Saronic Gulf, and were 
relieved from our anxieties, by seeing the ! 
steamer from the pineus some miles distant in 
the bay, approaching her anchorage. Leaving j 
66 Oenchrea" on our right, a mile or more dis- 
tant, our road now turned northward in a direc- 
tion nearly parallel with the head of the bay. 
The w T hole Isthmus was sacred too, and just be- 
low us once stood the celebrated temple of 
Neptune. As we descended the hill toward 
Calamaki, we passed its massive foundations on 
our left, and near by we saw part of a large 
Doric column, which once pertained to it. It 
was on one side of this temple that the statues 
of the victors in the Isthmiam games were 
placed. The site of the ancient stadium in 



3S 



CORINTH AND ITS MONUMEOTS. 



which these games were celebrated, is very ob- 
vious in the depression a short distance further 
north-west. Near at hand are traces of the 
Isthmian wall, and also of a canal commenced 
by Nero, but never much advanced, by means 
of which he designed to connect the two Gulfs. 

We reached the village before the steamer 
did her anchorage, or even our friends from 
the " Elleno'' had arrived. At 1 o'clock, P.M., 
we went on board the Baron Kebeck, and we 
were soon under way for the Pirseus. The dark- 
ness of evening be^an to gather around us ere 
we passed Salamis, and over the waters which 
beat upon its shores, where, on the 20th of 
October, 480 years B. C, the vast fleet of Xer- 
xes was taken or destroyed by the Greeks under 
Themistocles. This naval battle, under Provi- 
dence so pregnant in its consequences on the 
destiny of the world, was fought under the eye 
of that proud monarch, standing on an adjacent 
hill. Its fatal termination to the Persians, sent 
I him, a dismayed fugitive, back to Asia. 

Early in the evening our steamer reached 
her destination, where we landed, and took 
carriages for a ride of five miles to Athens. It 
was Saturday night, and we were rejoiced with 
the prospect of a Sabbath on shore, and the en- I 
joyment of public worship among our American 
friends located on this missionary field. 



CHAPTEE III. 



ATHENS AND ITS MONUMENTS. 

Advantages and Pleasures of Travel — Magnified difficulties 
— Comparatively few Americans in the East — Sabbath 
Privileges — Eev. Dr. Hill, Chaplain of the English Em- 
bassy — Eev. Dr. King — Kind attentions received — Sab- 
bath Desecrations in Athens — Bazaars thronged — Otho 
and his Court — The Palace — Population — Paul's second 
Missionary tour: his arrival at Athens: his visit in the 
Market Place — Survey of Monuments — Various Tastes of 
Travellers — Paul on Mars Hill — Ancient Altars to the 
Unknown God — Walk to Mars Hill. 

Greece and Palestine are sources of so much 
intellectual pleasure to the visitor, that it is an 
enigma that comparatively so few of the large 
number of our intelligent countrymen who visit 
Europe, should embrace those scenes classic and 
sacred in the plan of their travels. And more 
especially, if the tourist be a theologian or pro- 
fessional man travelling, as the late Dr. Dwight 
facetiously remarked, " with his eyes open" 

We have felt the swelling emotions of na- 
tional pride rising in our bosom on meeting our 
citizens in such numbers in Italy, and most of 
the large cities of the Continent; while, at the 
same time, we have contemplated with surprise 



40 ATHENS AND ITS MONUMENTS. 

the fact that so many of these travellers, men 
of learning and piety, can linger for months in 
some of the inconsiderable cities of Italy, and 
regard with a sluggard's indifference, a visit 
among the sacred scenes of Palestine or the 
historic regions of Greece. Florence is one of 
those places which seem to hold many a voya- 
ger spell-bound for a time ample to exhaust all 
its rich attractions, and for a visit from it to 
Athens beside. We must infer for many of 
them, that they have magnified the difficulties 
and dangers to be encountered, as well as the 
time required for the tour; or that they have not 
taken the trouble to inform themselves respect- 
ing the number of interesting monuments of 
antiquity which, in various states of preservation, 
have in Greece survived the vicissitudes of ages 
— the sight of which so richly compensates for 
all the time and efforts required for the visit. 

The fatigues of our tramp to Corinth recoil- 
ed upon me with so much severity, that I found 
myself, on Sabbath morning, entirely unfitted to 
enjoy the hoped-for privileges of the public re- 
ligious service, held in the morning, in the chapel 
of the English Embassy, of w r hich the Eev. J. 
Hill, D.D., of the American Episcopal Mission, 
is the chaplain. Mrs. Hill kindly called upon 
the ladies, and conducted them to the service. 
The pleasure of our visit w r as much enhanced 
by subsequent and unremitted attentions. We 



ATHENS AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



41 



visited with very great pleasure the interesting 
school of Mrs. Hill. Every American who 
makes the acquaintance of Mr. Hill, knows 
that he is au fait in all that relates to the an- 
tiquities of Athens. 

To Dr. King and the Rev. Mr. Lowndes we 
were alike indebted for their kind hospitalities. 
Our worthy missionary, Dr. King, was under 
the ban of the Government, and had no public 
teaching, but gave instruction in his own house 
to such as came to him. Athens thus far has 
been a peculiarly unpromising field for mis- 
sionary labours. It must not. however, be 
abandoned. A brighter day is yet to dawn 
there. The Rev. Isaac Lowndes, the excellent 
agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society 
in the Levant, was residing at the time in 
Athens; and on Sabbath evenings read and ex- 
pounded the Scriptures, with prayer, in the 
house of Dr. King — a service which we found 
much pleasure in attending. 

The Sabbath here is desecrated even more 
than in Paris. It is by far the most busy and 
exciting day of the week. The shops in the 
Bazaar are all open; the streets and market- 
place thronged with citizens and country-people, 
who improve the day to visit the town. The 
King and Queen, with her maids of honour, and 
a retinue of gentlemen and officers of the Court, 
were out on horseback for a ride in the afternoon 



42 



ATHENS AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



of the Sabbath-days we spent in Athens; and 
that is their us'ial custom. They passed our 
hotel, at four P.M., to review the troops on the 
public grounds, a short distance north of us, 
where a large concourse of people were gathered 
to witness the pageant, and listen to the martial 
music. Athens became the seat of Government 
in 1834, and is now the residence of Otho and 
his little court, the pageant of which is here 
maintained. The "Court -End," or north- 
easterly part of the city, has much of a Euro- 
pean aspect. The palace is quite an imposing 
building, and well furnished. It has some 
good portraits of Greek revolutionary heroes, 
and the walls of the apartments are ornamented 
with frescoes, by artists from Munich. The 
population has reached about twenty-five thou- 
sand. The Greek churches are generally 
small and low Byzantine structures. 

It was in Paul's second missionary tour 
through Asia Minor and regions adjacent, that, 
in his progress north and westward, he reached 
Alexandria — " Troas" This place was situated 
on the Phrygian side of the jEgean, not far 
from the site of ancient Troy. Mount Ida lies 
on its north, in full view, a few miles distant. 
To this city, the name of which indicates its 
proximity to the site of ancient Troy, or the 
country of the Trojans, he seems to have been 
impelled by a special divine influence: " After 



athe: s and its monuments. 



43 



they were come to Mysia, they essayed to go in- 
to Bithynia; but the spirit suffered them not. 
And they passing by Mysia, came down to 
Troas." (Acts 16: 7, 8.) Here, with the 
naked eye, he could look over into the fertile 
regions of Europe, which border the Hellespont; 
and to this point we are drawn in our search 
for the interesting fact of the first introduction of 
the Gospel into Europe. " A vision appeared 
to Paul in the night. There stood a man of 
Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over 
into Macedonia and help us" — giving to Paul 
and his companions the assurance "that the 
Lord had called them to preach the Gospel un- 
to them." Philippi was the scene of their first 
efforts — their temporary imprisonment, and the 
remarkable conversion of the jailer. Leaving 
this city, they pursue their w r ay westward and 
southerly unto Thessalonica, where we have a 
brief and instructive account of the manner of 
the Apostle's preaching. " He reasoned with 
them out of the Scriptures" — (Acts 17: 3.) 
Virtually expelled as they were from here, we 
have reason to believe, from Paul's two Epistles 
to them, written shortly after from Corinth, 
that the preaching of the Gospel was happily 
attended with saving benefit to many. His 
next brief and cheering stay was with the noble- 
hearted, Scripture - searching Bereans, from 
which place his friends conducted him to 



ATHEXS A3S& ITS MONUMENTS. 



Athens — the focal seat of learning and philoso- 
phy of Greece. From what we know of Paul 
as a man of letters, we cannot doubt that he 
entered Athens, and surveyed her historic scen- 
ery and famed monuments of art with peculiar 
interest. 

The Parthenon and Erectheum, the Propy- 
Isea and Theseium, although they had been the 
boast of Athens for five hundred years, were 
then standing conspicuous among her temples 
and monuments of architectural skill, in all 
their pristine glory. 

Her porticoes, her market- places, avenues 
and temples, were filled with sculptured heroes 
and deities; so that it had been satirically said 
of her, that " it was easier to find a god than a 
man." Pausanias, who visited Athens a few 
years later, says that it had more images than 
all the rest of Greece. 

Such was Athens when the Apostle entered 
her market-places, and disputed daily with the 
various sects of philosophers, whose time was 
there occupied in the fruitless inquiry for some 
new tiling. 

All but eighteen hundred years had elapsed, 
and we were standing on the same ground. But 
how changed the scene! The wasting hand of 
time, and the desolating arm of war, have 
crumbled in the dust much in which she then 
gloried. Enough, however, remains, to awaken 



ATHENS AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



45 



the deepest interest in the mind of the be- 
holder. 

Various, indeed, are the predominating emo- 
tions which may be supposed to agitate the 
bosom of the voyager, as he treads upon the 
soil of Athens. The admirers of fine speci- 
mens of architectural skill will wish, first of 
all, to climb to the summit of the Acropolis, 
there to examine the unequalled symmetrical 
proportions of the Parthenon —still beautiful in 
its ruins, and of which we purpose to say more 
hereafter. The enthusiast in classic lore, will 
search out those spots on which its great mas- 
ters here enriched its stores. Another class 
will direct their steps to the Pnyx, to mount its 
ancient stone Bema, from which, with the sky 
for a canopy, the orators of Athens delivered 
their impassioned harangues to the democratic 
population; and where, too, the great questions 
of war or peace were agitated and determined in 
their popular assemblies — that very Bema, or 
pulpit, from which Demosthenes exerted his 
powers of eloquence, to re-inspire courage and 
patriotism in his countrymen. 

The votaries of poetry and the drama may 
search for the Odeum, or the theatres where 
the productions of Simonides and Sophocles 
were introduced to the world. The moralist, 
for the prison where Socrates is said to have 
been confined; or the Academy where Plato 



46 



ATHENS AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



taught the lessons he had learned from his great 
master; or that favourite resort for philosophical 
study and conversation — the Lyceum — in the 
groves of which Aristotle and his disciples were 
wont to ramble. 

With no feelings of indifference to these, the 
Christian will desire to place his feet on the top 
of Mars Hill, where, in the open air, the high- 
est court of Athens held its sessions — the spot 
to which the Apostle Paul was conducted, to 
vindicate before its tribunals " the strange doc- 
trines of Jesus and the Resurrection" which he 
had preached in the ears of the Athenians; and 
where he delivered that noble vindication of the 
Gospel recorded in Acts xvii. To appreciate 
the wisdom, learning and eloquence of this 
unique address fully, it must be read on the 
ground of its utterance, with its bright land- 
scape in your eye, and several of those very 
"temples made with hands" before you, to which 
the finger of the Apostle was doubtless pointed 
when he announced to his learned and cavilling 
auditors, "Ye men of Athens, I perceive that 
in all things ye are too superstitious. For, as 
I passed by, and beheld your devotions, 1 found 
an altar with this inscription — TO THE UN- 
KNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignor- 
antly worship, him declare I unto you," etc. 

Col. Leake has the following extract from 
Pausanias: "The Athenians have another port, 



ATHENS AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



called Munychia, where is a temple of Diana 
Munychia. There is a third harbour at Pha- 
leruin, where is a sanctuary of Ceres, etc. Here 
are likewise altars sacred to the gods, called the 
Unknown." He adds, " It w ? as upon the oc- 
casion of a plague in the 40th Olympiad that 
the Athenians were advised "by Epimenides to 
propitiate the Unknown Deities, lest some of 
them should be offended by omission. Diogenes 
Laertius says that Epimenides himself came to 
Athens to establish this worship, and that he 
sacrificed upon the Areopagus. It is probable, 
therefore, that an altar to the Unknown God 
continued to stand upon the Areopagus, from 
that time until it became the occasion of Paul's 
address to the Athenians/' 

It w r as late in the afternoon, when we took 
our Bibles in our hands, and walked to Mars 
Hill, there to read this very address. 



CHAPTER 17. 

ACROrOLIS OF ATHENS AKD VISIT TO 
MARS HILL. 

Visit to Mars Hill — Tower of the Winds — Its Structure 
and Design — The Use of Abater Clocks — The Acropolis — 
The Distinctive Feature of Athens — Impregnable to the 
Early Modes of Warfare — Its Extent — its Ancient Walls 
— Adorned by Themistocles, Cimon, and Pericles — Its 
Temples — Bazaars of Oriental Cities like the Ancient 
Agoras, or Markets of the Greeks — Relation of Mars Hill 
to the Acropolis — Ancient Stone Steps to the Areopagus 
—Socrates there Tried — Seats of Judges — Court Held in 
the Open Air — Reading of Acts xvii — The same Temples 
in View that Paul had in his Eye — The Propylsea — The 
Parthenon— The Erectheum— Sacred Olive — Temple of 
Theseus — Legend from Plutarch — Its Reproduction by 
the Catholic Church, in various forms — Legend from 
Michaud's History of the Crusades. 

We found good accommodations in the 
Hotel d'Angleterre, which is situated upon the 
Rue de Minerva, half a mile or more north of 
the Acropolis. This is the .principal business 
street of the modern town, and intersecting the 
Bazaar, it runs north, from the central part of 
the north side of the Acropolis. We have re- 
marked that our first visit to Mars Hill, or the 
Areopagus, was on Sabbath evening. We 



ACROPOLIS OF ATHEX3 



49 



should be glad, had we the power for such 
achievements, to gather up a picture of the 
scene, so as to convey to our readers a graphic 
impression of its local relations, that thus we 
might virtually together stand on that interest- 
ing spot, and read Paul's masterly address. 
We are compelled, however, merely to crave in- 
dulgence while we now refer to some of our 
itinerancy during our interesting visit in Athens. 
In the walk referred to, after passing the 
bazaars, and before we reached the rapidly ris- 
ing ground, which forms the base of the Acro- 
polis, we came unexpectedly upon a remarkable 
ancient structure, called "the Tower of the 
Winds," or the Horologium of Andronicus. 
We did not then stop particularly to examine it; 
but in subsequent explorations we had frequent 
opportunities to do so. : It is an octagonal 
tower, situated at about the centre of the Acro- 
polis, and under its northern side. It was 
erected B. 0. 150, by Andronicus Cyrrhestes, 
to indicate the quarter from which the wind 
blew, and the hour of the day, by the sun, when 
the weather was clear; and by water when it 
was cloudy, The water- clock within the 
Tower was supplied by the little rill which rises 
under the Cave of Pan, at the north-west end 
of the Acropolis. On each of the eight angles 
of the Tower is sculptured a large-winged sym- 
bolic figure, in bas-relief. On the north, Boreas, 

JD 



50 



ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS 



thickly mantled, blows his twisted cone, etc. 
Although in ruins, it is a very interesting monu- 
ment. Water- clocks were an early device, and 
are said to have been erected to regulate the 
time of speaking of the orators. If for that end 
they would secure, in these modern days, more 
definite and salutary results than the clocks now 
in use, it might be well to have them erected 
in the vicinity of all of our public deliberative 
bodies. 

The Acropolis is the most distinctive feature 
of Athens, and from it relations, w T ith its tem- 
ples, to the Areopagus, is frequently referred to 
in history. From the earliest times it has been 
its citadel. In early Greek history, which 
doubtless has a large admixture of mythologic 
fiction, it is said to have received from Oecrops 
the name of " Oecropidse," and afterwards 
" Athense," by Erechthinus, from its being un-_ 
der the protection of Minerva, or Athena. 
This was designated the upper city, and the 
settlement at its base and around it, the 
lower city. Themistocles, Oimon, and 
Pericles, seem to have been the principle 
projectors of its ancient splendour. Its 
natural formation rendered it all but im- 
pregnable to the early modes of warfare. It is 
a rocky eminence, oblong in its shape, extend- 
ing from east to west. At its summit it is 
1,500 feet long, and about 500 feet wide; at its 



AXD VISIT TO MARS HILL. 



51 



greatest breadth, at its base, it spreads over a 
wider extent. It rises abruptly to the height of 
150 to 200 feet above the plain. On all its 
sides it is precipitous, except on the west, where 
is its only place of access. This entrance was 
fortified and adorned by Pericles with the splen- 
did Propylaea of Pentelic marble, as it was not 
until after the invasion of Xerxes, and the de- 
struction of the city by him, that a stone wall 
was constructed around the summit, on the 
edge of the perpendicular rock. This wall 
makes a circuit of 2,400 yards. The lower 
stones, as now seen, are of undoubted antiquity, 
and are attributed to Cimon and Themistocles. 
The more recent part of the present wall is the 
work of the Venetians and Turks, as they suc- 
cessively had Athens in their possession. In 
the brilliant period of Athenian history, besides 
the two prominent temples — the Parthenon 
and Erectheum, and the colossal Minerva said 
to have been of bronze, 70 feet high, the work 
of Phidias, and standing on a high pedestal, so 
that it could be seen by vessels approaching the 
coast — we learn from Pausanias and others, that 
this area was filled with statutes, altars and 
sculpture. This colossus was the Minerva 
Promachus — the champion of Athens. 

The Tower of the Winds, which we have de- 
scribed, was in the immediate vicinity, if not at 
the centre of the Agora, or market- place of the 



52 



ACEOPOLIS OF ATHENS 



Eoman period, where Paul disputed with the 
philosophers of Athens, who there met him. 

The Bazaars of Oriental cities of the present 
day, are doubtless much like the early Agoras 
of the Greeks. After leaving this tower, we 
turned westward, and, proceeding up and along 
the base of the Acropolis, w r e soon reached its 
north-western extremity. W e had now ascended 
some 75 to 100 feet above the northern plain. 
Here a small and elevated valley separated the 
Acropolis from the Areopagus, or Mars Hill. 
I estimated the distance of the latter to be 350 
feet from the Propyfea, and 50 below it. We 
now had before us that spot, of all others the 
most interesting to the Christian, on which he 
can tread in Athens. It is a lime-rock eleva- 
tion; the northern and eastern sides fronting the 
Acropolis are precipitous; a large mass or block 
on the north side has been detached by some 
convulsion of nature, and has fallen over below; 
on the west and south-west it slopes down 
rapidly a considerable distance toward the Pnyx, 
while on the south-west there is cut in the lime- 
stone rock an artificial ascent of sixteen rude 
steps, which formed its access from the Agora 
below to the spot where, in ancient times, the 
highest tribunal in Athens held its sessions. It 
was here that Socrates was tried and condemned. 
We crossed the narrow valley, and ascended 
those very steps up which the Apostle was 



AND VISIT TO MARS HILL. 



53 



doubtless conducted, when he was summoned 
to appear before the Areopagus for " preaching 
Jesus and the resurrection," in opposition to 
the prevailing idolatries of the times. This 
eastern summit of the Areopagus hill was the 
situation of the Temple of the Furies, (which 
must have been very small,) as well as of the 
Court, which was nothing more than an open 
space, having an altar of Minerva-areia upon it, 
and rude seats cut in the stone, serving for 
accuser and accused, or more probably their 
judges. These seats still remain. It was here 
with an interest never before realized in the 
passage, that we opened our Bibles, and read 
the 17th chapter of Acts. 

Standing on the very spot of its utterance, 
prominent in the eye on the east, immediately 
before you, is the Propylsea. Pericles erected 
this splendid structure B. C. 437. It is said 
to have occupied four years in its construction. 
Its name is derived from its forming a vestibule 
to the five gates or doors by which the Citadel 
or Acropolis was entered. It was so construct- 
ed as to be a work of defence, no less than of 
decoration, occupying the western extremity of 
the Acropolis, here 168 feet wide. The main 
entrance is 58 feet wide, the remainder of the 
room being closed by two projecting wings. 
Although in ruins, much of it remains to the 
present time entire. Its columns are of the 



54 ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS 

fluted Doric and the Tonic orders. Colonel 
Leake, in his Topography of Athens, (a work 
which the traveller in Greece will do well to 
consult,) regards the Propylsea as the greatest 
production of civil architecture in Athens, 
" equalling the Parthenon in felicity of execution, 
and surpassing it in boldness and originality of 
design." He also quotes from an oration of 
Demosthenes, in which, as an effort of architec- 
tural art, it is placed on an equality with the 
Parthenon. On its southern wing stood the 
little temple of the Unwinged Victory, the 
materials of which have recently been found 
among the ruins, and the temple restored. 

Rising above, and back from the Propylaea, 
stands the Parthenon. This temple, as a speci- 
men of architectural skill, has ever been the 
admiration of mankind for its symmetrical pro- 
portions. Probably, in all its nice adjustments, 
it stands to the present day without a rival. 
The more minutely it has been examined, the 
greater has been the astonishment at the 
achievement — in adjusting and proportioning 
all its parts, so as to secure the beau-ideal of 
perfection. 

Then, too, it was so placed, in reference to 
the Propylsea, that, as you enter the Acropolis 
through that grand portico, you get your first 
glimpse of the Parthenon, at the angle of the 
side and front — the best possible position to im. 



AKD VISIT TO MARS HILL. 



55 



press the beholder. It was erected by Pericles 
about 440 B. 0., of the beautiful white marble 
of Pentelicus, in honour of Minerva Parthenon, 
or the Virgin Goddess. The Temple fronts 
nearly east and west, showing eight Doric 
columns in the fronts, and seventeen on the 
sides. These columns are 6 feet in diameter, 
by 34 feet high, standing on a pavement, to 
which there is an ascent of three high steps. 
At both ends, within the peristyle, there is a 
range of six columns, forming a vestibule to the 
doors of the cell. The height of the Temple, 
above the platform, is 65 feet; its length 228; 
and width 100 feet. It is supposed to occupy 
the site of a temple destroyed by Xerxes, the 
Hecatompedon. The Parthenon remained en- 
tire until 1687, when the centre of the edifice 
was destroyed by a bomb, fired by a besieging 
Venetian army from Mount Lycabettus, which 
exploded the Turkish magazine kept within it. 

At the distance of about 200 feet north of 
the Parthenon stands the Erectheum. This 
temple is about 100 feet in length, in good pre- 
servation. Complex in its design, it had, at 
least, three fronts, and two or more compart- 
ments or altars. The principal one was said 
to have been dedicated to Erechtheus, or Nep- 
tune, who was said here to have disputed with 
Minerva for the honour of being the tutelary 
Deity of the Athenians. We were shown the 



56 



ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS 



spring of water, under the north side portico, 
mythologically said to be that which Neptune, 
with his tridents, produced in presence of 
Cecrops. The colums of this and the eastern 
portico are of the Ionic order. The eastern 
end of the edifice was occupied by the Sacred 
Olive Tree, produced by Minerva in the contest 
with Neptune; and in this compartment was an 
altar to her. 

The southern portico, fronting the north side 
of the Parthenon, is supported by Caryatides — 
like the edifice of Pentelic marble. They are 
human figures, historic in design. Under this 
part of the temple Cecrops is said to have been 
buried. Nothing remains to indicate the situa- 
tion of any of the statues which the area of the 
Acropolis once contained. The colossal 
Minerva is supposed to have stood nearly in 
front of the Propylsea, and midway between that 
splendid Doric entrance of the Acropolis and 
the Parthenon. 

We have referred to the Temple of Theseus 
as here in the vision of the Apostle. It is 
situated in the plain about a quarter of a mile 
westward from Mars Hill. It is the most per- 
fect of all the monuments of Athens, remaining 
almost entire, as it was constructed by Cimon, 
the son of Miltiades, B. C. 465, in honour of 
Theseus. The tradition is, that Cimon dis- 
covered the bones of Theseus, with a brazen 



AXD VISIT TO MARS HILL. 



helmet and sword lying beside them, in the 
Island of Scyrus; and that after punishing and 
expelling the people, he brought the relics to 
Athens, and here deposited them. This is a 
beautiful little temple, with fine architectural 
proportions, erected w 7 ith Pentelic marble. It 
shows seven eolums on its fronts, and thirteen 
on the sides, counting the angling column twice. 
It is now used as a Museum of ancient sculp- 
ture. It is an interesting and instructive study 
to trace the origin of the veneration paid to 
relics in the Greek and Catholic churches, and 
wilich has so long been rife in those corrupt 
communions, to their sources in Pagan rites and 
mythology. 

The Parthenon, which derived its name from 
the virginity of Minerva, under a corrupted 
Christianity, became sacred to the Virgin 
Mother of Christ And Theseus was super- 
' seded in the Thesium by the warrior St. George. 
The legend which we find in Plutarch respect- 
ing Theseus, has been so frequently reproduced, 
in various forms in the Catholic church, that 
we shall here transcribe it. After giving an 
account of the death of Theseus, he says, " In 
succeeding ages the Athenians honoured Theseus 
as a demi-god, induced to it as well by other 
reasons as because, when they were fighting the 
Medes at Marathon, a considerable part of the 
army thought they sate the apparition of Theseus, 



58 



ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS 



completely armed, and bearing down before 
them upon the barbarians. Consulting the 
oracle of Apollo, they were ordered by the 
Priestess to take up the bones of Theseus, and 
lay them in an honourable place at Athens, 
where they were to be kept with the greatest 
care. But it was difficult to take them up, or 
even to find out the grave, on account of the 
savage and inhospitable disposition of the bar- 
barians who dwelt in Scyrus. Nevertheless, 
Oimon having taken the Island, and being very 
desirous to find out the place where Theseus 
was buried, by chance saw an eagle on a certain 
eminence breaking the ground, and scratching 
it up with her talons. This he considered as 
a divine direction, and digging there, found the 
coffin of a man of extraordinary size, with lance 
of brass and sword lying by it. When these 
remains were brought to Athens in Cirnon's 
galley, the Athenians received them with trans- 
port, as if Theseus himself had returned to the 
city. He lies interred in the middle of the 
town near the Gymnasium, and his Oratory is 
a place of refuge, etc. The chief sacrifice is 
offered to him on the 8th of October; they sacri- 
fice to him likewise on each 8th day of every 
other month," etc. 

We deem it pertinent to introduce an extract 
from Michaud's interesting history of the Crus- 
aders, which here occurs to us. The first 



AND VISIT TO MARS HILL. 



59 



Crusaders, after the most frightful disaster and 
suffering, had reached and environed Jerusalem. 
The Saracens, within its walls, were resolved 
upon the most desperate resistance to their 
assaults. The fourteenth of July, 1099, was 
fixed upon by the Crusaders to make their grand 
assault. A day of terrible conflict ended with- 
out any decisive result, bringing gloom and dis- 
couragement over the troops of the Crusaders. 
The day following the conflict was to be re- 
newed. He says, " The Priests and Bishops 
indefatigably visited the tents of the soldiers, 
promising tliem the assistance of Heaven" The 
day seemed likely to prove more fatal to the 
Crusaders than the previous one, when, "All at 
once the Crusaders saw T a Knight appear upon 
the Mount of Olives, waving his buckler, and 
giving the Christian army the signal for enter- 
ing the city. Godfrey and Raymond, w 7 ho per- 
ceived him first and at the same time, cried out 
aloud that St. George w r as come to the help of 
the Christians! The sight of the celestial horse- 
man fired the besiegers w 7 ith new ardour, and 
they returned to the charge," which ended in 
their complete triumph. 



CHAPTER V. 



ATHENS AND ELEUSIS. 

The explorations of a week — Distinct impressions — Stadium j 
of Athens — The Illissus — Temple of Jupiter Olympius— 
Lantern of Demosthenes — The Pnyx: experiment on its 
Bema — A Soliloquy on our Journal — Yaliey of the Ce- 
phissus — Old Olive Trees — Hill of Colonus — Parnes Range 
— Eleusinian Festival: abolished by Theodosius the Great 
— Our Yisit to Eleusis — Its Bay — Sacred way — Temple of 
Ceres — Mount Corrydalles — Seat of Xerxes. 

The experience of several months 5 travel in 
Europe, had taught us the importance of habits 
of diligence, and a rigid devotion of our time, 
first of all, to the primary objects of our voyage 
in the Orient. By adhering to these rules, we 
had found that much could be accomplished in 
a short period. At the close of our first week 
in Athens, we had explored nearly all its locali- 
ties and monuments of historic interest, ancient 
or modern. True, the pleasure and benefits 
derived from our visit were greatly enhanced 
and facilitated by the kind attentions of our 
missionary friends residing there; the remem- 
brance of which is traced deeply on our hearts. 

Localities and monuments, like the friends 



ATHEXS AND ELEUSIS. 



61 



we have learned to love, to be distinctly remem- 
bered, must generally be frequently seen. We 
found the habit of obtaining " distinct impres- 
sions from distinct things," which in our youth 
we had learned from Addison to be " the true 
definition of knowledge/' was a most admirable 
motto to carry along with us in our wide jour- 
neyings. 

We have already referred to some of the 
prominent objects of interest in Athens. We 
have now only space to notice briefly a few 
others. The site of her ancient Stadium is 
perfect; the area was spacious; its Pentelic 
marble seats are all gone, except a few frag- 
ments; it is on the south side of the Missus, 
which, by the way, is a stream so small that we 
could hardly say we had wet our shoes in its 
waters. 

Near at hand, and on the east of the Acro- 
polis, stand the ruins of the once magificent 
temple of Jupiter Olympus. It is said this 
temple was commenced by Pisistratus, B. 0. 
550, who was a contemporary of Solon. It was 
constructed on a grand scale, but Pisistratus 
lived only to lay its foundation, and it was left 
to Hadrian, the Eoman Emperor, to complete 
the edifice, 700 years after its foundations were 
laid. Sixteen Corinthian colums remain stand- 
ing to attest its splendour. They are sixty 
feet high by nine and a half feet in diameter. 



62 



ATHENS AND ELEUSI5, 



That ambitious monarch, Hadrian, it appears, 
adorned this part of Athens; for his arch or 
gateway still stands, with its pompous inscrip- 
tions, on the south-east side, " This is the 
Athens of Hadrian, and not the City of Theseus," 
while on the north-west side is inscribed, "This 
is Athens, the ancient City of Theseus. 1 " On 
our first visit to the Acropolis, we were accom- 
panied by Dr. King and a Greek friend, with 
whom we also visited its temples, and the sites 
and ruins of the theatres and odeium under its 
eastern walls, some of which we have before 
described. In this vicinity there is also the 
very beautiful little Choragic monument of 
Lysicrates, which, from its lantern-like shape, 
is called the "Lantern of Demosthenes." it 
is one of the earliest, as well as finest, specimens 
of Corinthian architecture; erected about 325 
B. C, and the only remaining temple of the 
kind, which formed the street of the Tripods. 
Six fine fluted Corinthian columns of Pentelic 
marble standing on an elevated base, support the 
entablature and roof. The inscription on the 
architrave, which we copy from Colonel Leake, 
testifies that " Lysicrates led the chorus, when 
the Boys of Achamantes gained the victory, 
when Theon played the flute, when Lysiodes 
wrote the piece, and when Evasnetus was 
Archon." 

AYe repeatedly stood on the Pnyx, where the 



ATHENS AND ELEUSIS. G3 

popular meetings of the Athenians were con- 
vened. Although we attempted no lengthened 
speech from its Bema, we did presume to ascend 
this ancient rostrum, to test its adaptation as 
the stand point of an orator; and found that the 
voice was distinctly heard from it, to the extent 
of the circular area, of about one and a half 
acres in extent, which spreads below it. The 
exterior of this arc is fronted w T ith very large 
imbedded cyclopean stones. 

Reviewing some of the interesting scenes of 
our visit, I find in substance the following 
soliloquy written down in my notes: "From the 
window of my apartments, as I now sit, we en- 
joy a fine view of the plain or valley of the 
Oephissus. It is a small stream, conducted 
now, as of old, by artificial channels, in various 
directions, through the plain, to irrigate the 
vineyards and numerous olive trees, which ex- 
tend for several miles northward from the 
Pirseus, It w r as a fortunate circumstance that 
these trees escaped the devastating axe of the 
Turk. Many of them appear of great age, the 
trunk of the tree resembling a mass of old cables 
twisted together. I should judge some of them 
are four hundred years old! These olive trees, 
or those from which they sprung, are fabled to 
have been reared from slips from the sacred 
olive tree in the Erichtheum. In the midst of 
this grove, and distant a mile and a half from 



ATHENS A^D ELEUSIS. 



the Acropolis, was the £ Academia,' left by 
Academus to the citizens of Athens, for a 
gymnasium — then, as now, filled with olive and 
plane trees, although we noticed but one or two 
of the latter on our visit there. It is a tree 
much resembling our beech tree. The main 
stream of the Oephissus runs a short distance 
from the Academia on its north-west. Here, 
amid these groves, Plato is said to have resided, 
and taught those who sought his instructions. 

M The hill Colonus — a rounded and stony 
eminence rising about thirty to forty feet above 
the level of the plain — stands a short distance 
north-east of the Academia. This was the 
native borough of the poet Sophocles. On this 
mound there was anciently a temple dedicated to 
Neptune. In our visit to these localities we 
had the company and guidance of Dr. King. 

" The plains of Athens before me are bound- 
ed on the north by the Parnes range, naked and 
craggy. These mountains are separated on the 
west from Mount Daphne, by the celebrated 
vale of Daphne, leading to Eleusis, where the 
mysterious Eleusinian Festival was held every 
fifth year with great solemnity by the Athenian 
and Eleusinian people, introduced thirteen hun- 
dred and fifty six years B. C. Such was its 
deep hold on the popular mind, that it was not 
until the period of Theodosius the Great, that 
its rites were finally abolished, having survived 



ATHENS AND ELEUSIS. 65 

eighteen hundred years. The festival was held 
in the month of September, and was continued 
nine days. The modern Masonic institution 
seems to have imitated some of the Eleusinian 
rites. 

We occupied the greater portion of a day in 
our visit to Eleusis. Its bay is crescent-formed, 
and the plain around it extends back to the 
mountain ridges, varying in breadth from three 
to seven miles, as nearly as I could estimate 
the distance. It is supposed that the mythol- 
ogy and fables connected with the festival, in- 
dicated that corn or wheat was first planted 
there, as Ceres was the presiding deity. The 
temple is in utter ruins; nothing but a part of 
its foundations, and masses of broken columns, 
remain to indicate its site. It was constructed 
of Pentelic marble. A few arches of an old 
acqueduct, which conveyed water from the dis- 
tant hills to the temple, are yet in good preser- 
vation; and the fallen ruins of other portions of 
it are seen extending for miles over the plain. 
It was constructed of well-burnt brick, large, 
but thin, much like the old Eoman brick. 
There are a few miserable huts here, each of 
which has its ferocious dog; and it is a fortun- 
ate escape to keep them at good barking dis- 
tance. One would hardly dream, from present 
appearances, of selecting this region as a site 
for a temple to Oeres ; or any other ideal imper- 

E 



66 



ATHENS AXD ELEUSIS, 



sonation of grain or bounteous harvests. The 
daughter of Ceres, Proserpina, was united in 
the worship — Ceres indicated the earth; Proser- 
pina the seed, wheat, or barley. Our road to 
Eleusis was over the ancient sacred way. On 
reaching the bay. the ancient road was, in some 
places, cut in the solid rock; and the track of 
the chariot wheels still remains perfectly obvious. 
As we passed through the vale of Daphne, we 
stopped to examine an old Byzantine church, 
which now occupies the site of a temple of 
Apollo. But we saw no bay tree, which leads 
us to conclude that the daughter of Peneus no 
longer has there her transmuted existence and 
abode. There is along the path a deep gorge, 
made by water, extending towards the bay; but 
it was perfectly dry. From the Bay of Eleusis 
we have a view of a part of the Island of Sala- 
mis 3 which lies before it; and also of a part of 
the Strait, up which Themistocles feared the 
Spartans designed to escape previous to the 
famous battle, which his artifice, for that reason, 
hastened with the Persian fleet, and which took 
place a little farther westward toward the 
Piraeus. On the left, as we passed through this 
vale of Daphne, and a little to the south of it, 
is Mount Corydalles, both of which are before 
me in full view. And I see the summit on 
which the boastful and vain Xerxes sat upon a 
chair of gold, when he beheld the fatal battle of 



ATHENS AND ELEUSIS. 



67 



Salamis, from the sight of which, in consterna- 
tion and haste, he fled back into Asia. From 
my window, on the north, I see an abrupt break 
in the Parnes range, which indicates the site 
where of old was Phyle, celebrated in Athenian 
and Spartan history. As it is some ten hours 
distant, I shall not attempt to explore it, as 
Marathon has stronger attractions, and a visit 
to either is attended with perils, from the 
attacks of brigands, which some of our friends 
represent as too great to hazard." 



CHAPTER VI. 



VISIT TO MARATHON. 

Carriage Ride to Cephissa — Dubious Journey — Ferocious 
Dogs — Xomadic Encampment — View from the Mountain's 
Side— Marathon— Extent of the Plain— Difficult Descent 
— Tumulus Mound: a Lunch upon its Side — Gloomy Scene 
— Tain Search for a Persian Arrow — Return, 

Our desire to visit Marathon predominated 
over our fears, and we planned to accomplish the 
excursion in a day. Making our arrangements 
to rise at a very early hour, we engaged a car- 
riage to convey us to the village of Cephissa, 
which is situated on the western slope of Pente- 
licus, distant nine miles from Athens. We had 
sent forward our saddle horses there, which w 7 ere 
soon in readiness after our arrival. The ride to 
the village was far from inviting; but after leav- 
ing it, our route became dubious enough to dis- 
courage any but stout hearts. Our progress 
was necessarily slow. There is hardly a habi- 
tation for man in many miles. But we were 
several times beset by the large and ferocious 
dogs of the shepherds, who are occasionally seen 
attending their flocks. We found a supply of 
good sized stones to cast at them, a good pro- 
tection from their assaults, and we deemed it 



VISIT TO MARATHON. 



69 



fortunate to encounter no worse perils. We 
passed a large encampment of Nomadic-looking 
people, a few miles before reaching the high and 
precipitous mountain sides which overlook the 
plain. On our arrival there, we paused to sur- 
vey the scene. The tumulus mound we could 
distinctly see, although some three miles distant. 

" The mountains look on Marathon, 
And Marathon looks on the sea." 

Here we looked down on the deep bosom of 
that famed battle-field, where, in a few brief 
hours, was decided one of the most memorable 
battles that have filled the page of history. The 
heroic Greeks quite unconsciously fought for 
Europe and distant ages. Their valour, doubt- 
less, affected our condition and destiny. The 
hand of a higher Wisdom, and greater might 
than man's, controlled the issue. History and 
its recorded events, great and small, to human 
vision, are imperfectly understood, when God's 
providential agency is lost sight of in their re- 
view. 

We estimated that the plain extended along 
the shore from seven to ten miles, varying in 
width from two and a half to three miles. The 
Greeks, who mustered not much over ten thous- 
and men, it would appear, posted themselves on 
the narrowest part of it, under Mount Argaliki, 
which overhangs its southern extremity. Here, 



70 



VISIT TO MARATHON. 



only a small portion of the vast army of the Per- 
sians could be brought into the conflict; if they 
composed anything like the numbers attributed 
— one to two hundred thousand men, of forty-six 
different nations, they must have filled the north- 
ern portion of the plain. The desperate onset 
of the Greeks flung them into disorder and con- 
sternation, and achieved an easy victory. 

With no little difficulty we descended the steep 
sides of the mountain, and rode over the plain, a 
distance of not far from two miles to the tumulus 
mound, which was reared over the bodies of the 
one hundred and ninety Greeks, w T ho perished 
near it in the desperate conflict. It is cone- 
shaped, somewhat flattened by time, with one or 
two gullies. We estimated that it was forty to 
fifty feet in height above the adjacent ground, 
and two hundred feet in diameter. It stands to 
the south-east of the centre of the plain. Of 
that wonder of the world — the proud monument 
of Mausolus, not a vestige remains; while this 
simple mound of earth, and similar structures, 
which we subsequently saw in the vicinity of the 
Hellespont, indicating the tombs of Achilles and 
others, seem likely to endure to the end of time. 
But a small part of the plain appears now ta be 
cultivated. One or two Greeks were turning up 
the soil, with the same kind of rude plough that 
their ancestors used, when they turned in the 
Persian's blood beneath its furrows; and large 



VISIT TO MARATHON. 



71 



vultures, in great numbers, were flying about. 
We looked upon them as the lineal descendants 
of those who here fattened on the flesh of the 
Persians, twenty-three hundred years before. 

A broad and deep water-course passes 
through the plain to the sea, but it was perfectly 
dry when we crossed it. We noticed an im- 
mense number of Squill bulbs, many of them very 
large, and sending up spikes of flowers, (Decem- 
ber 1st.) One of these bulbs I secured, and I 
have it in my conservatory, but as yet it gives 
no indication of flowering. The Ranunculus, 
too, was in full flower on the plain. 

Dismounting our horses on the side of the 
tumulus, we ate our lunch over the dust of the 
slumbering Greeks. A desolate and gloomy 
silence pervades the scene, and one looks back 
to that day, when " the battle of the warrior was 
here with confused noise, and with garments 
rolled in blood," and every fiendish passion was 
awakened to its deadly hate. 

In vain we searched for the Persian's arrow, 
or the sword of the Greek. Admonished of the 
tedious hours our return would occupy, and 
of the wasting day, we remounted our horses, 
and hastened to retrace our steps over the rug- 
ged mountains. Most glad and grateful did we 
feel, when some time after the darkness of night 
had gathered around us, we again in safety 
greeted our friends, under the roof of our hotel. 



CHAPTER VII. 



FIRSTS, SYRA AND SMYRNA. 

Evidences of Turkish rule effaced from Greece — Its blight 
remains — Sympathy of the Greeks with Russia — Their 
Persecutions of Dr. King — Ancient Walled Avenue to 
Piraeus — Departure from Athens — A day at the Piraeus — 
Its Harbour — Munichia and Phalcre — A Bow in the Har- 
bour — Yisit to the Tomb of Themistocles — Voyage to 
Syra — A Breakfast on Shore — Steamer " Germani" — 
Yoyage to Smyrna— Its Bay— Scenes of the Orient — Ap- 
proach to the City — Anchorage — American Consul — Hos- 
pitalities of the Orient — American Missionaries — Shop- 
ping in the Bazaars — Perils of the Way — Population of 
Smyrna — A Donkey Bide — Caravan Bridge — The Mis- 
sionary Prayer-Meeting 

The Greeks have effaced from their soil, as 
far as possible, every vestige that would recall 
to their thoughts the remembrance of the hated 
sway of the Turk. Their very graves, with 
their turbaned monuments of the males, have 
disappeared from observation, so that if one 
chance to stamp carelessly over the bones of the 
once haughty and despotic Mussulman, it is with 
an unconscious tread. The crescent, the mina- 
ret and the mosque, have for ever departed: the 
blighting influence of their rule on the soil and 



PULSUS^ SYR A AXD SMYRXA. 



73 



character of Greece, will long remain unre- 
dressed. 

There can be no doubt that the Greeks here, 
as well as through Asia Minor, have a strong 
sympathy with Russia, and are anxiously wait- 
ing to welcome her advancing sway in that dir- 
ection. This feeling is doubtless the result of 
religious affinities, which render Greece the 
peculiar protege of the Autocrat. The impres- 
sion will intrude upon us, that it is their re- 
liance upon Russian protection which has em- 
boldened the actors in the malignant and illegal 
persecution of the Rev. Dr. King; and if the 
matter had been quietly passed over by our 
own government, we believe that our Episcopal 
and Baptist friends there w T ould have been 
visited with similar attentions. 

The presence of an American frigate in the 
waters of the Levant occasionally, has, 1 am 
well assured, a surprising influence in the esti- 
mate in which our countrymen are held by those 
who surround them. 

The ancient walled Avenue, which connected 
Athens with its ports, was attributed to The- 
mistocles. The space between these walls was 
thickly inhabited. The modern road to the 
Piraeus, for much of the distance, pursues 
nearly the same path. Remains of these an- 
cient walls are very obvious. The entire dis- 
tance is five miles. 



74 PHLETS, SYRA AND S3IYRXA. 

At ten o'clock, A. M. 3 we left our hotel, and 
turned reluctantly our backs upon " Athens 
and its monuments," and rode to the Piraeus, 
where we spent the remainder of the day. en- 
joying the hospitalities of the Rev. J. Buel and 
his excellent lady, of the American Baptist 
Mission. 

The Pirseus is the only port of modern 
Athens. The harbour is small, but its water 
is deep, and would afford a safe and good 
anchorage for quite a fleet of yessels. It has 
considerable commerce, and a large town has 
arisen up there since the close of the Greek 
revolution. 

The small coves on the western side of the 
Phalarean bay, which formed the ports of 
Munichia and Phalere, are nearly filled up, and 
have for many ages gone into disuse. They 
were not more than a mile distant eastward 
from the Piraeus. The southern ancient wall 
from Athens made a deflection so as to include 
these ports. With Mr. Buel for our cicerone, 
we proceeded to the high ground, on the east of 
the town, which overlooked these ancient ports, 
where we took a survey of the scene, after 
which we procured a boat, and rowed around 
and out of the harbour of the Piraeus. Our 
explorations extended to the end of the promon- 
tory beyond the eastern side of the harbour, 
where we repaired to visit, quite in view of 



PIR.EUS, SYRA AND SMYRNA. 75 

the bay of Salamis, the scene of his glory, the 
reputed tomb of Themistocles. 

We there found a sarcophagus, cut deep in 
the limestone rock, but now covered to some 
depth by the waters of the sea. A large column, 
it appears, once stood over, or near the spot, 
the broken blocks and fragments of which lay 
confusedly around. 

As we rowed down the harbour, we passed 
near the pedestals, on which once sat the colos- 
sal marble lions which the Venetians tran- 
sported to Venice in 1687, and which, now so 
unsightly, are set to guard the portal to the 
Arsenal of that now fallen city — once mistress 
of the ocean. We think that stolen property, 
which can be so well identified, should be re- 
turned to its rightful owners. The harbour in 
ancient times was protected at night by sunken 
walls and chains. We traced, deep in the 
water, the remains of these walls. 

We left the Pirseus at six o'clock in the 
evening, and the following morning, at half- 
past seven, entered the harbour of Syra. This 
island is the great depot of the Austrian Lloyd 
steamers in the Levant, and chief place of com- 
merce of the Islands of the Archipelago. It is 
one of the Cyclades, or islands around Delos, 
which group are under the government of 
Greece; as the Sporades, or islands along the 
eastern side of the iEgean, are still retained un- 



76 



PULSUS, SYRA AND SMYRNA. 



der the Turkish government. "We found quite 
a number of vessels in the harbour. The place 
has a singular appearance. It has two towns 
on the sides and summit of a high conical hill, 
which overhangs the port. The upper town, 
which caps the hill, is mainly occupied by the 
peasantry. A large church stands upon the 
very summit of the cone. The lower town is 
situated on the steep sides of the base of the 
hill, and is mainly inhabited by the business 
part of the community. The houses are flat- 
roofed; the streets very narrow, steep and filthy. 
We landed with a view of procuring our break- 
fast on shore, but were forced to put up with a 
miserable apology for that, at a most miserable 
inn. We took a good survey of the place, and 
called upon the Eev. Mr. Hildner, a German 
missionary, supported by the London Missionary 
Society, to whom I had a letter of introduction. 
From the south side of the town we enjoyed a 
fine view of the neighbouring islands — Tinos, 
Mycone, Delos — where was the celebrated 
Temple of Apollo, founded by Erischthon, the 
son of Cecrops; beside which, Nexia and Paros 
were in sight. 

In the afternoon, we went on board the fine 
steamer Germani bound for Smyrna and Con- 
stantinople. At an early hour the following 
morning w r e passed the island of Scio, and soon 
entered the Gulf of Smyrna. This Gulf or 



piejeius. syra Asm bmyrna. 



77 



Bay is more than thirty miles long. It varies 
in width, between five and fifteen miles. About 
ten miles above its entrance, we passed a large 
French fleet at anchor. As we approached the 
city, the aspect upon the shore gave intimation 
that we were amid the incidents of the Orient; 
for we could distinctly see long caravans of 
camels, laden with the productions of Asia 
Minor, which they were bearing to its great 
mart, Smyrna. Soon the city came into view, 
with its numerous minarets, the appendages of 
their Mosques. Skirted on the right, on the 
side of Mount Pagus, rose the dark foliage of 
the tall Cypress trees, that there betoken the 
burial place of the faithful Moslem. 

About eight miles below the citv. a strong 
fortress juts out into the bay to guard the pass, 
over which the crescent banner of the sanguin- 
ary Prophet was unfurled; and we began to 
realize that we were indeed about to tread upon 
the soil of an empire, swayed by the successors 
of Mohammed. 

The city lies mainly low, extending along the 
eliptical shore, for two miles. Immediately be- 
hind it rises abruptly Mount Pagus, the Acro- 
polis and site of the ancient town, where once 
flourished one of " the Seven churches of Asia," 
designated in the Apocalyptical visions of John. 

On our steamer's reaching her anchorage be- 
fore the city, we were quickly surrounded by 



78 PIR^EUS^ SYRA AND SMYRNA. 

numerous small boats, manned by bearded and 
turbaned Mohammedans and Greeks, grotesque 
and rude enough in their appearance. We 
bargained with one of them to convey us to the 
shore, and were quickly rowed to the American 
Consulate, where we were kindly received by Mr. 
Offly, the Consul, and conducted to his residence. 
Soon after we entered his house, we were served, 
according to Oriental custom, with strong black 
coffee, and sweetmeats. The servant passed 
around two sorts of preserves on small silver 
saucers, with several spoons on the tray, and 
tumblers of w 7 ater. It is customary to take 
w T ith one of the spoons a mouthful of the pre- 
serve, from one of the dishes, followed by a 
swallow of water. The coffee is then passed to 
the company in china cups, holding a wine-glass 
fall, and resting on small silver stands, or cup 
holders, of open filagree work. 

Having letters to our American Missionaries, 
we hastened to greet the faithful band, who are 
there sustained by the American Board. We 
were conducted through the narrow streets of 
the city to the house of Mr. Benjamin, in the 
hospitalities of whose pleasant family we once 
more felt ourselves quite at home. " Shopping" 
is necessarily involved, where there are ladies, 
and we soon went forth to visit the Bazaars of 
the city, which are very extensive, and filled 
with goods of every description, for Oriental use. 



PIR.EUS, SYRA AND SMYRNA. 



79 



Along with the productions of the East, the 
manufactures of England and France crowd into 
every market. 

The shops of the Bazaars are generally very 
small— mere stalls. In one you find the keen- 
eyed, active and calculating Jew; in another, the 
no less vigilant Armenian. Elevated on a kind 
of narrow counter, which perhaps constitutes 
the area of the store of another, sits the corpu- 
lent Turk, lazily puffing at his chibouk (pipe), 
seeming alike indifferent whether you purchase 
or leave his goods. 

Most of the streets occupied by these shops 
are not over eight or ten feet wide. We found 
them wet and filthy. In traversing them one 
encounters all sorts of perils. While you are 
attempting to avoid the mud, or what may be 
worse, you are startled by the tinkling bells of 
a train of heavy-loaded camels, tied together, 
in tens. The bulky burdens which swing at 
their sides nearly fill the passage, and compel 
you to square round closely to the Bazaar, or 
more luckily to escape into its door, if it is large 
enough to have any inside. Then comes a train 
of loaded donkeys, heavily and closely packed 
on both sides — less formidable and imposing 
indeed than the meek-faced camel, but wiiose 
contact is little less to be feared. Anon, you 
are startled with the hoarse voice of the Hamel 
(porter), with his more than camel burden, and 



80 PIR^EUS^ SYR A AND SMYRNA. 

you look with amazement at the huge load his 
back sustains, while you are compelled to flee 
from its contact. 

The gaily attired Turkish women, in silken 
and flowing robes, somehow manage to get 
through the muddy streets unsoiled. Their faces 
are veiled, excepting a narrow opening for the 
eyes. They are rarely or never seen without 
the yashmak. As seen in the street, her feet 
and ancles are covered by a yellow leather boot, 
which she wears over her house merkoub, or 
slippers. 

At the prescribed hours you hear the shrill 
voice of the Muezzin from the high balcony 
near the top of the Minaret, in chimney-sweep- 
like notes, calling the faithful Mussulman to his 
prayers. " There is no God but God : to 
prayer. Lo, God is great." 

The population of Smyrna is estimated at one 
hundred and fifty thousand, one half of them 
Turks, the other made up of Greeks, Armenians, 
Jews and Franks, or Europeans, each living in 
distinct quarters of the city. 

After dinner we mounted donkeys, and rode 
to the famed Caravan Bridge in the suburbs, 
beyond which we turned to the right of a large 
Turkish burying-ground, and ascended the sides 
of a high hill, which afforded an extensive view 
of the city and country adjacent. Returning 
from this novel ride, we reached the house of 



PIR^EUSj SYRA AND SMYRNA. 



81 



Mr. Benjamin in good tea time; after which, 
with lanterns in hand, we repaired to the resid- 
ence of the Rev. Elias Riggs, to attend the 
weekly prayer meeting of the mission families. 
There we had the great pleasure of meeting all 
the members of the mission at this station, and 
enjoyed an hour with them in social worship. 
A privilege so kindred to the social prayer meet- 
ings in our own far off land we had not enjoyed 
for many months. It was to us a pleasant cir- 
cumstance to find in use the American Tract | 
Society's volume of sacred songs, the 163rd and 
173rd of which were the selections used for the 
occasion. 

How refreshing the incident! Here, amid 
upper, nether and surrounding moral darkness, 
to unite with the little band of missionaries from 
our own loved country, in singing — 

" From every stormy -wind that blows, 
From every swelling tide of woes, 
There is a calm, a sure retreat, 
'Tis found beneath the mercy seat." 

F 



CHAPTEE VIII. 



MOHXT PAGUS AND THE MARTYRDOM OF POLYCARP. 

Walk to Mount Pagus — Turkish Bnrying-gronnd — Turbaned- 
headed Stones of Males — Ancient Acropolis of Smyrna — 
Site of its stadium — Polycarp — The Angel of the Church 
of Smyrna — His Martyrdom — Account of Eusebius — 
Polycarp Arraigned — Proconsul urges him to deny Christ 
— Polycarp's Answer — Triumphs of Faith — Intolerance of j 
Greek and Armenian Ecclesiastics — Bet urn from Mount 
Pagus — Smyrna a depot for Missionary operations in the 
Orient — The Armenian Population — Their dumber and 
Character — Translations of the Bible into Modern Armen- 
ian and Armeno-Turkish. 

The morning following our arrival at Smyrna, 
in company with the Eev. T. P. Johnson, of 
this station, we walked to the top of Mount 
Pagus. On our way we passed the new and 
extensive Turkish barracks, which are construct- 
ed in European style. Our pathway carried us 
along and through the old and very extensive 
Turkish burying-ground on the right of the city 
and back of it. The grave-stones of the males | 
have always a turban head, and frequently indi- 
cate the rank of the individual. They are gen- 
erally erect, three to four feet high, with flat sur- 
face ten inches wide. The stones of the women 



AND THE MARTYRDOM OF POLYCARP. 



83 



are without turbans. The man and favourite 
wife generally lie side by side. The stones are 
lettered, and often gilded or painted in part with 
gay colours. We noticed in general a great 
apparent neglect in the care of the Turkish 
cemeteries. 

A dilapidated castle of large area crowns the 
summit of Mount Pagus, occupying the site of 
the ancient Acropolis, around which, of old, the 
city was built. The site of the ancient Stadium 
we could distinctly trace — that very Stadium 
in which Polycarp was burned, A. D. 167, in 
the "Fourth Persecution" which occurred under 
the Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Num- 
erous other confessors of the faith of Jesus, were 
here devoured by wild beasts, or consumed by 
flames. 

"From torturing pains to endless joys 
On fiery wheels they rode." 

In our earlier years we had read in "Milner's 
Church History" the account of those scenes of 
cruel persecution, little expecting that we should 
ever tread over the very ground of their occur- 
ence. 

Archbishop Usher assumes, with probable 
correctness, that Polycarp was " the Angel of 
the Church of Smyrna," specially addressed 
(Rev. 2: 8.) He was doubtless a disciple of 
John. In the narrative of the martyrdom of 



84: 



MOUNT PAGUSj 



Polycarp and others, given subsequently by the 
Church of Smyrna, and preserved in Eusebius, 
they say of these early witnesses of the faith: 
" Though torn with whips till the frame and 
structure of their bodies were laid open, even 
to their veins and arteries, they meekly endured 
— such was their fortitude that no one of them 
uttered a sigh or groan. The fire of savage 
tormentors was cold to them; for they had 
steadily in view a desire to avoid that fire which 
is eternal. In like manner those who were con- 
demned to the wild beasts, underwent for a time 
cruel torments, being placed under shells of sea 
fish, and exposed to various tortures, that, if 
possible, they might be tempted to deny their 
Master/' When Polycarp, in his extreme old 
age. had been arrested and brought to the tri- 
bunal, the Proconsul urged him to deny Christ. 
Polycarp replied, " eighty and six years have T 
served Him, and he hath never wronged me; 
and how can I blaspheme my King who hath 
saved me?" " I have wild beasts," says the 
Proconsul; " I will expose you to them unless 
you repent." Call them," replies the martyr. 
" 1 will tame your spirit by fire, since you des- 
pise wild beasts, unless you repent." " You 
threaten me with fire," answers Polycarp, " which 
burns for a moment, and will be soon extinct; but 
you are ignorant of the future judgment and of 
the fire of eternal punishment reserved for the 



AND THE MARTYRDOM OF ROLYCARP. 



85 



ungodly." In the exercise of such a calm reliance 
on the unseen hand of Jesus, and with such a 
noble testimony for his Gospel, was he committed 
to the flames. He remembered who it was that 
had said to him, "Fear none of those things 
which thou shalt suffer" — "Be thou faithful unto 
death and I will give thee a crown of life." 
Eleven others from Philadelphia suffered martyr- 
dom with him, at the same time. 

It is no breach of Christian charity to infer, 
that many of the higher ecclesiastics of the 
Greek and Armenian church both indulge and 
cherish the spirit of these ancient persecutors; 
and w^ere they not restrained by the arm of 
government, the faggot and the fire would soon 
be gathered around many of those, who, enlight- 
ened by the truths of God's pure word, which 
have been brought to their knowledge by the 
labours of our American Missionaries, have 
renounced those Paganized communions, even 
at the cost of the loss of all their earthly goods. 
The scene was well adapted to bring to our 
thoughts and self scrutiny those lines of Watts 
so often sung: 

"Must I be carried to the skies 
On flowery beds of ease, 
Whilst others fought to win the prize, 
And sailed through bloody seas]" 

Turning from this interesting spot, we de- 
scended directly down the steep sides of the 



86 MOUXT PAGUS ; 

Mountain, into the city, passing through streets 
so filled with water, mud and filth, that they 
were nearily impassible to travellers on foot. 
Recently, quite a large district had been entire- 
ly devastated by fire, over which new streets 
were laid out, at right angles, and of improved 
width. 

It may be proper here to remark, that j 
Smyrna has thus far been a less promising field 
for the Missionary than Constantinople, and 
many other stations in the Turkish empire, 
occupied by American Missionaries. It has 
been used as the principal depot of the Ameri- 
can Board of Commissioners, for conducting the 
printing and other matters incident to their 
extended operations in the Orient. The Rev. 
Mr. Riggs has devoted his time mainly to the 
object of completing the translation of the Bible 
into the modern Armenian, with the Armenian 
character. The Armenians in Turkey number, 
it is supposed, three millions. Scattered as 
they are, widely over the Orient, they constitute 
one of its most hopeful redeeming elements. 
Active and intelligent, in many traits of their 
character, they promise to be for Turkey, what 
the New Englanders are to our own land. 
Should the pure Protestant faith gain a pre- 
dominating influence among them, much may 
be hoped from their labours in spreading the 
Gospel in Asia. To meet the exigency of their 



ANT) THE MARTYRDOM OF POLYCARP. 87 

peculiar condition it has been found necessary 
to make for them two translations of the Bible. 
The one above named in Modern Armenian in 
the Armenian character, and another transla- 
tion of it into Armeno- Turkish, or the Turkish 
language with the Armenian character. This 
last named translation was made by the Rev. 
William Goodell at Constantinople. 



CHAPTEE IX. 

VOYAGE FROM SMYRNA TO CONSTANTINOPLE. 

Return to the " Germani" — Voyage to Constantinople — Deck 
of Oriental Steamers—Harem of a Pasha — The Mussul- 
man at Prayer— Deck Passengers at Night— Arrival at 
Mitylene— Pass Tenedos and Troas— Enter the Dardanelles 
— Anchorage — Consular Flags — Ancient Abydos — Cros- 
sing-place of Xerxes — Leander and Hero — Lord Byron — 
Arrived at Gallipoli — A Night on the Marmora— Arrival 
at Constantinople. 

At four o'clock, P. M., we returned onboard 
the " Germani" to pursue our voyage to Con- 
stantinople. The deck of an oriental steamer 
presents a unique spectacle to the eye of an 
American traveller. Between Smyrna and Con- 
stantinople, and the intermediate ports, the in- 
tercourse is very considerable. The Asiatics 
are nearly all deck passengers. We had two 
Pashas in our company, and one them had his 
harem on the deck, an awning, being extended 
around and over a sufficient space to accomodate 
him and the women of his retinue. At the re- 
gular hour of prayer, the upper-class Mussulman 
enquires the point of the compass; his servant 
then spreads a knee-cloth, much like a common 



VOYAGE FROM SMYRNA TO CONSTANTINOPLE. 



89 



hearth-rug. upon the deck, in the direction of 
their Keblah, Mecca, on which he drops on his 
knees, and goes through the prescribed prostra- 
tions, regardless of the confusion around. 

The greater part of our passengers at night, 
in heterogeneous mass, laid down upon such 
luggage as they had, entirely exposed to the cold 
and rain that overtook us, having little or no 
protection, except the coarse hooded over-coats, 
generally worn by them. 

Our steamer passed up between Mitylene and 
the coast, and reached her place of landing on 
that island at twelve o'clock, midnight. The 
darkness of the night prevented my seeing any- 
thing satisfactorily on the shore. We were up 
with Tenedos at five o'clock, A. M. In another 
hour we were nearly abreast of Troas, with 
Mount Ida in sight, some miles distant inland. At 
ten o'clock we entered the mouth of the Dardan- 
elles. Some miles above, two strong fortresses 
guard the Pass: the castle of Eomalia, on the Eu- 
ropean side, that of Natolia on the side of Asia. 
They were erected A. D. 1659 by Mahomet 
Fourth. Their long brass guns, formerly in use, if 
not now, could discharge a granite ball over two 
feet in diameter. By treaty stipulation, no Euro- 
pean ship of war is allowed to enter the strait, 
without express permission from the Turkish 
government At twelve o'clock, A. M., we an- 
chored just above the town of Dardanelles 



90 



VOYAGE FROM SMYRNA 



Quite a number of Consular flags, of the differ- 
ent European nations, were floating over the 
buildings on shore. The passage is here more 
than a mile wide. 

At three o'clock, P . M., we hoisted our an- 
chor, and very soon passed ISTagara Point, the 
ancient Abydos. This is generally regarded as 
the place where Xerxes constructed his boat- 
bridges, over which to pass his invading myriads 
into Europe. Parmeno, at a latter day, led the 
troops of Alexander over the same pass into Asia. 
To these incidents we purpose again to refer in 
another chapter. This too is the scene of the 
story of Leander and Hero, the priestess of Ven- 
us at Sestos. We estimated the width of the 
Hellespont here to be a full mile. Seven stadia 
was the old estimate. Lord Byron swam across, 
at this point, in one hour and ten minutes, in 
May, 1810, We reached Gallipoli at half-past 
five o'clock, P. M., where we entered on the sea 
of Marmora, on which we experienced a rainy 
and tempestuous night, We hoped to reach 
Constantinople at an early hour on the following 
morning, especially as it was the Sabbath; but 
the severity of the storm delayed our progress, 
as well as prevented our seeing the coast of the 
Marmora with any satisfaction as we approached 
the city. At twelve o'clock, M., the tall mina- 
rets and domes of the great Mosques Achmedje, 
Suleimanye and St. Sophia, came into view, 



TO CONSTANTINOPLE. 



91 



with the wails along the shore, and buildings on 
the side of the city bordering the Mormora. We 
were naturally anxious to identify the grand 
church of Theodosius, or more properly of Jus- 
tinian — St. Sophia, around which so many his- 
toric incidents gather of peculiar interest to the 
Christian traveller. It occupies a site in close 
proximity to the Seraglio grounds. In a little 
more than half an hour after the city came into 
view, we reached our anchorage in the Golden 
Horn. 



CHAPTEK X- 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 

Population of the City and its Suburbs — Its Subjugation by 
Mahomet Second — Termination of the Roman Greek Em- 
pire — Its Splendid Position — Scenery Described — Anchor- 
age in the Golden Horn — Spacious Harbour — Land at Toph- 
anna — Dogs and Filth — Hotel d'Angleterre Pera — Sabbath 
— Armenian Service — Firman to Yisit the Seraglio and 
Mosque — Boat Bridges over the Golden Horn — Streets of 
the City — Charms to Avert the Evil Eye — Seraglio Grounds 
— Meeting of the Sultan— His appearance and Age — Yisitthe 
Seraglio — Partial Description — Mosque of St. Sophia — Erec- i 
ted by Justinian — Mosque Achmedje — Monuments on An- 
cient Hippodrome — Mosque Suilemanye — Muftee and his 
Learners — Mausoleums of Saltans — Return to Hotel — 
Evenings with American Missionaries. 

We must compress within the limits of a 
single chapter the relation of a few of the inci- 
dents of our visit at Constantinople. We will 
here remark that the city proper has a popula- 
tion estimated at five hundred thousand. The 
suburbs of Pera, Galata, and Tophanna, on the 
northern side of the Golden Horn, have two 
hundred thousand more; and Scutari, on the 
Asiatic side of the Bosphorus, is supposed to 
contain one hundred thousand. The Turkish 
Sultan, Mohammed Second, at the head of an 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 93 

army of three hundred thousand men, made him- 
self master of Constantinople, A. D. 1453; and 
terminated the empire of the Eoman Greeks. 
Constantine, its last emperor, was there slain 
sword in hand. The commanding position of 
Constantinople has ever arrested the attention of 
the traveller, and it is easy to discover some of 
the considerations which, independent of those of 
a political character, must have influenced Con- 
stantine to select this splendid situation, as the 
metropolis of the mighty empire which he 
swayed. 

On its northern side the remarkable cornu- 
copia-like formed indentation, from the Bosphor- 
us, near the point where it meets the Marmora, 
constitutes the splendid harbour of " the Golden 
Horn," in the deep waters of which a thousand 
ships may lie in safety. Its southern side is 
washed by the waves of the sea of Marmora, 
which, at Seraglio Point, meet the impetuous 
waters of the Bosphorus, as it there discharges, 
upon its bosom, its unceasing and mighty flood. 

The bold and picturesque scenery of two con- 
verging Continents here fill the eye. These 
constitute some of the combined natural advan- 
tages of the location, which may well impress 
every visitor. The tall and glittering minarets 
and domes of the Mosque conspire to add to the 
imposing effect. 

In view of such a scene our steamer an- 



94: 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 



ciiored in the Golden Horn at half-past twelve 
o'clock, P. M. In Turkish ports the traveller 
is free from the delay and annoyances of the po- 
lice and custom-house regulations, and we soon 
put ourselves in charge of a Cicerone from the 
Hotel d'Angleterre, Pera, and in one of the 
numerous caiques which quickly surrounded our 
vessel, we were rowed to the quay at Tophanna, 
where we landed at one o'clock, P. M., amid 
filth, mud, and an army of small and famished 
dogs which lined the shore, and snarled at our 
heels as we proceeded through their more appro- 
priate haunts. They are generally of a brown 
colour. The dogs in Constantinople form one 
of its notable characteristics. They are not do- 
mesticated, and were formerly much more nu- 
merous and annoying than at present. They 
are said to live in separate communities, and 
have among them a kind of municipal regulation, 
that no dog must intrude beyond his defined 
limits, and woe to the cur who ventures beyond 
the protection of his fellows. Some months la- 
ter, when in Cairo, we saw a like regulation 
carried out, quite to our astonishment. Pera 
occupies a high, steep and narrow ridge. A 
tedious walk of half an hour brought us to the 
Hotel d'Angleterre, there to meet the greeting 
of our travelling friends who had preceded us 
from Athens. 

After partaking of a lunch at the hotel, we 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 



immediately repaired to the residence of the Rev. 
William Goodell, with the hope of attending 
some part of the religious services of the Mis- 
sion Station, and were conducted to the chapel, 
where an Armenian congregation w r as assem- 
bled, the services being conducted by its pastor, 
a native preacher. At the close of these services 
we were introduced to the pastor and some of 
the congregation, and had the pleasure of re- 
cognizing, as a fellow-disciple of the pure protes- 
tant faith, one or more of the number who, in 
previous years, had endured bonds, imprison- 
ment, and the loss of all things, for the name of 
Christ, from the hands of the persecuting Ar- 
menian ecclesiastics. We purpose again to 
refer to some of our subsequent intercourse with 
the American Missionary circle here. 

A visit to the Seraglio and Mosque is an im- 
portant attainment of a visit to Constantinople, 
to secure which it is necessary to procure a Fir- 
man from the Turkish government, and the 
conduct of an official, as the Turks w r ould not 
admit, nor would it be safe for a Christian to 
enter a Mosque without express authority. The 
expenses of a firman are about fifty dollars, the 
same for an individual, or a party of ten. Our 
Philadelphia friends, through the interposition 
of Mr. Brown, Dragoman to the American 
Minister Resident, had procured one, and 
awaited our arrival, that w T e might participate 



96 



COXSTAXTIXOPLE. 



in its use. We rose at an early hour on Mon- 
day morning to avail ourselves of its full bene- 
fits. Our preparations for the toils and 
anticipated pleasure of the day arranged, shortly 
after breakfast we stepped into the gay and odd- 
appearing carriages provided to convey us on 
our excursion to the city. The Janissary (a 
kind of Turkish police officer) of Mr. Brown, 
with a Cicerone from the hotel, accompanied us. 
We rode to one of the boat-bridges, over which 
we crossed the Golden Horn. There are two 
of these bridges connecting Pera and Galata with 
the city proper. They are constructed and used 
much like the bridges upon the Ehine. 

On reaching the city we were conducted 
through a series of narrow and dirty streets, 
lined by equally filthy houses and stores. The 
various trades are prosecuted in separate streets. 
One is wholly occupied by smiths; another by 
shoemakers; a third by saddlers, etc. Over al- 
most every door we noticed either an old horse 
shoe nailed up, or more generally a bunch of 
garlic. They are charms to avert the effects of 
"the evil eye" The Turk believes if another 
looks on any of his possessions with a covetous 
desire, something is thereby detracted from its 
value or quality. Thus, if he has a fine child, one 
could not well displease him more, than by cares- 
sing it. If you look upon the child with admir- 
ation, not only are you supposed to detract from 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 



97 



its quality, its life, also, is regarded as periled 
thereby. To avert these ills, not only is the 
charm hung up, but the mother when she sus- 
pects that such feelings towards her child are 
cherished, spits back over her shoulder; this is 
frequently seen. These heathenish impressions 
must be a fruitful source of wretchedness. 

We proceeded directly to the Seraglio, into 
the grounds of which our firman secured for us 
a ready admittance. These grounds and the 
palace occupy a space of three miles in circuit. 
The area is in form much like New York west of 
Chambers street. We had proceeded but a short 
distance in the grounds before we were arrested in 
our progress by the intelligence that the Sultan, 
Abdul Med jid, was at the Seraglio, and that we 
must await his departure. This was a peculiarly 
fortunate circumstance, as it would afford to us an 
excellent opportunity to see his Majesty, We 
alighted from our carriages and arranged our- 
selves in a way to show all due respect to his 
highness. In a short time the Imperial retinue 
approached us. There was very little pageantry 
about it. The Sultan was attended by some of 
his officers of state, and a small guard. He was 
dressed in simple European costume, with Tar- 
bouch (Red cap) upon his head, and mounted upon 
a fine horse. His favourite white Arab caparison- 
ed, was led behind the retinue. They passed us at 
a slow walk, and the Sultan eyed our party well. 

i g 



98 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 



He is a man of medium size, thin and agreeable 
face, black hair and whiskers, and thirty-two 
years old. He ascended the throne of the Sul- 
tans, July 1st, 1839, at the age of seventeen. 
His guard were all on foot. His sublime 
Majesty having retired, we proceeded directly 
to the garden and Seraglio. The garden im- 
mediately surrounding the palace is neatly laid 
out, and has some rare and fine ornamental 
trees and exotics. On entering the Seraglio, as 
in the Mosque, you are required to take off your 
shoes, so that it is quite necessary to provide 
beforehand slippers, to be worn in passing 
through the apartments. The situation of the 
palace is very fine. It is, however, no longer 
the Royal residence, and we found in it much 
less of Oriental magnificence than we had ex- 
pected; much of its furniture has doubtless been 
transferred to the new palaces upon the shores 
of the Bosphorus. The bathing rooms, entirely 
inlaid with beautiful marbles, are very fine. 
We shall not attempt to describe the various 
apartments and appendages of this old palace 
of the Sultans. 

We left the Seraglio by its grand entrance, 
examining on our way out of the enclosure the 
large hall, wiiere the Divan is held. In this 
hall there is a large elevated bed-like platform, 
richly covered, and its sides ornamented with 
precious stones. On this the grand Vizier 



CONSTANTINOPLE . 



99 



and officers of state recline, or rather sit, when 
convened to administer the affairs of the empire. 
From the Seraglio we went directly to St. 
Sophia, which is but a short way from it. The 
present edifice was erected by the Emperor 
Justinian, A. D. 538. It occupies the site of 
former churches, successively destroyed by fire, 
which had been erected by Oonstantine and 
Theodosius. It is built in the form of a Greek 
cross, in a quadrilateral edifice two hundred and ; 
forty feet in width, north and south, and two j 
hundred and sixty nine in length from east to j 
west Four minarets have been added to its 
exterior corners by successive Sultans since its 
appropriation as a Mosque. On three of its sides 
are colonades with cupolas. There is a wide 
vestibule extending the entire width of the 
western end of the building. This large space, 
or outer court, was formerly appropriated to 
persons who were under church censure, as well as 
for the main entrance to the edifice. As we en- 
tered this vestibule, we were required to take 
off our street boots, and substitute slippers. I 
found well-polished boots answered my purpose 
equally well. Large numbers of Mussulmans 
were in the body of the building. We thought 
they did not appear to be much pleased with 
the intrusion of our party. 

The various doors were of bronze, ornament- 
ed with crosses which have been mutilated by 



100 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 



the Turks. The mosaic pictures of saints which 
adorned the interior niches and ceilings of the 
galleries for females, have been whitewashed or 
plastered over. Singular as it may appear, such 
is the fact* the Turk is afraid of the eyes of a 
pictured saint upon the interior walls of a build- 
ing. On several occasions in our eastern travels 
we noticed the mutilation of the eyes in such 
pictures. In the galleries we distinctly saw the 
mosaic work under the wash intended to cover 
it. 

The dome of St. Sophia is one hundred and 
fifteen feet in diameter, and one hundred and 
eighty feet high above the floor. It is very 
flat, and is supported by four large columns. 
Several of the old heathen temples in the em- 
pire were put under contribution for the adorn- 
ing of the interior. Here are Porphyry columns 
from Aurelian's Temple of the Sun; green jasper 
from that of Diana at Ephesus; red granite from 
Egypt, and serpentine from other parts. 
Ostrich's eggs and lamps, suspended around the 
interior, gave to it a singular effect, As the 
Mussulman's prayer and prostrations must all 
be made in the direction of Mecca, the pulpit is 
placed at a south-eastern angle from the right 
lines of the interior. Prayers are read from this 
high pulpit on Fridays. It is reached by a 
flight of long and steep encased stairs. 

Under the protection of our Turkish janissary 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 



101 



wa met with no opposition in our careful ex- 
amination of this ancient church, which has 
survived the vicissitudes of thirteen centuries, 
but now desecrated to subserve the delusions 
of the followers of Mohammed. May the 
crescent here soon give place to the cross, and 
a pure faith be taught within its w T alls. 

Highly interesting as was our visit here, we 
yet experienced some disappointment, as the 
edifice did not fully meet our anticipations of its 
magnificence. 

From St. Sophia we rode directly to the 
Mosque Achmedje, built by the Sultan Achmed. 
It occupies a part of the site of the ancient 
Hippodrome. This Mosque has six tall minarets. 
The structure is large. Its cupola is supported 
by four enormous columns, each more than one 
hundred feet in circumference. The interior is 
plain. It has a large gallery, in which you see 
deposited a great number of trunks and pack- 
ages containing valuables, which are sent here 
for safe keeping, it being a sacred deposit. 
Upon the open square, near which this Mosque \ 
stands, and which formed a portion of the 
grounds of the Hippodrome, there are three 
ancient monuments of considerable interest 
which we examined on leaving the Mosque. 
The most interesting of these is the brazen 
column of three serpents, spirally twisted, but 
now headless, and supposed to have been brought 



102 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 



from Delphi. Another is a fine Egyptian 
obelisk, a granite monolith fifty feet high, erected 
by Theodosius the Great. The possession and 
transportation of Egyptian obelisks would seem 
to have been a favourite attainment of the 
Eoman Emperors. Many of these obelisks, it 
is known, now adorn modern Rome. Near to 
the obelisk of Theodosius there is a dilapidated 
column, which was obviously once covered with 
metallic plates. 

We next visited the great Mosque Suleimanye, 
which w r as erected by Suleiman the Magnificent, 
A. D. 1550. This is the most splendid of the 
Mosques. It is much in the style of St. Sophia. 
The fountains, domed colonnades, and spacious 
courts pertaining to these Mosque, combine to 
secure an imposing effect. 

At the hour of our visiting the Suleimanye, 
we found a number of Muftees, or teachers, 
seated on cushions in various parts of the floor 
or pavement of the interior, with the Koran 
open before them, and resting upon small desks 
inlaid with pearl. Around each of them w r as 
grouped at his feet a large class of learners of 
various ages, to whom they were expounding 
with great animation their sacred lessons. 

We now repaired to the Mosque-like Mauso- 
leum of the late Sultan Mahmood, and to that 
also of Suleiman the Magnificent. The last 
named has a vaulted roof studded with precious 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 



108 



stones and diamonds. The large sarcophagus 
of each of these Sultans is covered with rich 
camel's-hair shawls, which have been left from 
time to time on the occasion of the visits of 
near relatives of the deceased. 

The visits we have enumerated, with other in- 
cidental examinations which were made, quite 
satisfied us with our achievement in one short 
day. We returned to our hotel, and dined at a 
late hour. 

At night Egyptian darkness reigns in the 
streets of all oriental cities, especially if the 
weather be cloudy. As they have no lights, 
those who venture out take with them long 
transparent paper lanterns. Ps. 119: 105. 

At evening we repaired to the house of the 
Rev. Wm, Goodell, where we had the pleasure 
of meeting not only his interesting family, but 
also the Rev. J. S. Everett and family, as well 
as other members of the American Missionary 
circle there, with whom we enjoyed a season of 
social and religious intercourse and prayer. In 
a circle so literally American, and so truly con- 
genial to our best sympathies, we found it a 
pleasure and a privilege to spend the greater 
part of our subsequent evenings while in Con- 
stantinople. One needs to be similarly circum- 
stanced, five thousand miles from home, fully to 
sympathize in our feelings, as we there united 
in singing " America:" 



104: 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 



"My country! 'tis of thee/' 
Sweet land of liberty. 

Of thee I sing: 
Land where my fathers died, 
Land of the pilgrim's pride; 
Prom every mountain side, 

Let freedom ring. 

My native country thee, 
Land of the noble free, 

Thy name I love; 
I love thy rocks and rills, 
Thy woods and templed hills; 
My heart with rapture thrills, 

Like that above. 



CHAPTEE XI. 

VOYAGE IN THE LEVANT — CONSTANTINOPLE 
TO BEIRUT. 

Constantinople and New York — Adieu to Missionaries — Row 
to the " Germani" — Sun-set View in the Golden Horn — 
Proceed on our Voyage — Arrival at Gallipoli — Its fine 
situation — The first European city taken by the Turks — 
Ancient Tumuli — The Site of Lampsacus — Lysander's 
battle-ground — Time in passing through the Hellespont — 
Second Examination — Xerxes' Crossing-place Identified 
— His Immense Army — His Anger at the Waves — Crosses 
the Hellespont in Great Pomp — Returns a Fugitive — 
Alexander's army crosses into Asia — Mount Ida — Leave 
the Strait — Tumuli on Shore — Wind Mills — Alexander 
Troas — Its Ruins — Change since Paul left his Cloak and 
Parchments — Arrival at Symrna — Embark for Syria— Scio 
and Samos — Patmos, bleak and barren — One of the 
Sporades — Island of Coos — Night at Symi — Arrival at 
Rhodes — Knights of St. John — Their Desolated Palaces — 
Arrival at Cyprus — Its ruined condition under the Mos- 
lem — View of Lebanon from the Sea — Arrival at Beirut — 
American Missionaries — Their Character. 

The sites respectively occupied by Constan- 
tinople and the city of New York, in many of 
their topographical aspects, present a marked 
resemblance. To make the relation more im- 
pressive, the points of compass for New York, 
as well as the North River and bay, need be 



108 



VOYAGE IX THE LEVANT. 



somewhat reversed. With the Battery pointing 
northeastwardly, instead of west as it does, it 
would well correspond w T ith Seraglio point: the 
Xorth River and bay on the one side, illustrat- 
ing the sea of Marmora and the Bosphorus. 
Jersey City well corresponds to Scutara, on the 
Asiatic side; w T hile the East River would well 
personate the Golden Horn. The suburbs 
Tophanna, Galata and Pera, have their illustra- 
tion measurably in Brooklyn and its shores. 
Manhattan Island, west of Thirtieth street, well 
represents the area occupied within the walls of 
Constantinople in extent and form. Constanti- 
nople is not the place for the traveller to search 
for fine specimens of architectural skill, ancient 
or modern. The old Byzantine style had 
nothing in it very attractive. Its highest im- 
pression was probably attained by the Venetians 
in their Basilica San Marco in Venice; for the 
construction and adornment of which, it is well 
known, they put under contribution almost the 
whole region of the Levant, in collecting from 
the ruins of ancient edifices the five hundred 
columns w T hich are comprised in its structure. 

T\ r e are not aware that the Turks ever evinced 
any good taste in the direction of the fine arts. 
The early Saracens in these, and all other re- 
spects, were a superior race of men. 

Measurable degradation, and imposing splen- 
dour in their contrasts, have always charac- 



VOYAGE IN THE LEVANT. 107 

terized the Orient. Wherever the Gospel has 
had its appropriate influence, it has doubtless 
elevated the condition as well as purified the 
character of the masses. 

Our interesting visit at Constantinople and 
its vicinity finished, we gave a reluctant adieu 
to our Missionary friends and their families, 
whose Christian society we had so much en- 
joyed in this region of wide- spread moral death. 
Goodell — that w T arm-hearted veteran on the 
Foreign Missionary field, every inch of him an 
American still, after long years of self-expatria- 
tion in the cause of giving the pure Gospel to 
the millions of Asia, — his parting charge, I 
cannot better convey, than by inserting it on 
this page: " Pour out my love on America, on the 
right hand, and on the left" said he; and this is 
but a sample of the warm affection cherished for 
their native land by all our missionary families. 
Their prayers go up to the throne of grace in 
our behalf, and it is to be hoped, may receive 
answers of mercy in the perpetuity of our one 
great, happy and undivided country. Great as 
are some of the evils included in our social 
system, the sun does not shine on another land 
so highly blessed. It was one of the brightest 
days we had enjoyed during our visit. We left 
our hotel at three o'clock P. M., and drove to 
the quay, where w 7 e entered a caique and rowed 
to the Germani. The setting sun lighted up 



108 



VOYAGE IN THE LEVANT. 



the gilded domes and Minarets of the Mosques 
of St. Sophia, Suleimenye, and Achmedje, and 
the beauty of the scene, from the deck of our 
fine steamer as she lay in the 64 Golden Horn," 
might make one forget for a time the mud, filth 
and dogs we had encountered in the narrow 
streets of the city. With the shades of evening 
we passed out into the Marmora. At seven 
o'clock on the following morning, we had en- 
tered the Dardanelles, and soon after passed the 
large town of Gallipoli, situated on the Euro- 
pean side, and occupying one of the finest sites 
for a city, which we had seen in the Levant, pre- 
senting a striking resemblance to Detroit, on 
the St. Clair. This was the first European 
city that submitted to the Turks, A. D. 1357, 
over which the Orescent waved for near a cen- 
tury before Constantinople fell under the same 
malign sway. A short distance below and west 
of the town, we noticed ancient tumuli, or 
mounds, which are reputed to be the tombs of 
ancient kings of Thrace. The site of the ancient 
Lampsacus, is pointed out on the Asiatic side, 
about two miles below Gallipoli. This city, it 
was said, was given by Xerxes, or more pro- 
bably his son, Artaxerxes, to Themistocles, as 
a portion of his revenue, when, after his banish- 
ment by the Athenians, he repaired to the Per- 
sian court. He had three cities given to him 
for his bread, wine, and meat, Magnesia, Lamp- 



VOYAGE IN THE LEVANT. 109 

sacus, and Myus. It was in the Dardanelles, 
a little below Lampsacus, that Lysander gained 
his signal victory over the Athenian fleet, B. 0. 
405. The entire length of the Hellespont is 
about thirty-six miles. The distance between 
Gallipoli and the town of Dardanelles, which is 
some miles above its mouth, is not far from 
twenty-five. Our steamer made her upward 
and downward passage, between these points, in 
two and a half hours, each way. In both pass- 
ages we carefully examined the character of the 
channel, and its shores, with the object of satis- 
fying ourselves as to the identity of the place 
where the great armies of ancient and more 
modern times had probably made their crossing 
place, more especially where Xerxes must have 
constructed his bridges. 

Our second examination entirely satisfied us 
of the correctness of the received tradition, to 
which we have referred in a previous chapter. 
This interesting spot we again reached at half- 
past nine o'clock A. M. More than twenty- 
three hundred years had elapsed since the 
proud monarch of Persia here assembled his 
mighty hosts to overwhelm the Greeks. The 
uzigoverned waves, regardless of his pomp or 
his authority, had dashed unheedingly against 
the first two bridges that he had constructed, 
and measurably destroyed them; and in his 
puerile rage he treated it as a revolting menial, 



110 



VOYAGE IN THE LEVANT. 



ordering it to be beaten with rods, while he 
thus addressed it: " Bitter flood, it is thus thy 
master punishes thee, because thou has offended 
him, without having received any injury at his 
hands/' 

His two bridges repaired, seven days and nights 
were occupied in passing over his army, said 
to consist of one million seven hundred thousand 
foot and eighty thousand horse, beside an im- 
mense retinue. Little did Xerxes dream, while 
he was crossing the Hellespont, with so much 
pomp and glory, into Europe, that in a few short 
weeks he would here return, defeated and 
affrighted, glad to be rowed back even in a mis- 
erable fisherman's boat. One hundred and fifty 
years later, the army of Alexander crossed at 
the same place, when he led his victorious troops 
into Asia, to deal out the full cup of Grecian 
revenge on the Persian empire. Mount Ida 
was fall in view on the east, eight or ten miles 
in the interior, and the whole scene before us 
was memorable in Grecian story. 

Soon after leaving the Dardanelles, we again 
noticed some remarkable tumuli on the Asiatic 
shore, designated as the tombs of Achilles and 
Protesilaus. It was near this point that the 
Greeks laid up their vessels at the siege of Troy: 
on a promontory near, there is seen quite a num- 
ber of wind mills. We now had the high and 
naked Island of Imbros in the north-west, ten 



VOYAGE IN THE LEVANT. 



Ill 



miles in the distance, and beyond it Samothracia 
was clearly seen. At half past two o'clock 
P. M., we reached Tenedos, and in half an hour 
were abreast of Alexandria " Troas." It was 
here that "a vision appeared to Paul in the 
night," (Acts 16: 9,) beckoning hirn to carry 
the Gospel into Europe, and it added not a little 
to the interest of our voyage, that we were now 
on the track of Paul and his companions, in his 
return for the last time, to Jerusalem, recorded 
in Acts 20 and 21. The whole region where 
the city once stood, is entirely desolate, and 
covered to a considerable extent with wood. 
The ruins are said to be many miles in extent, 
and hundreds of columns are scattered along the 
shore. With the aid of a good glass, we could 
distinctly see a large ruin one or two miles from 
the shore, known as " the Palace of Priam.'' 
What a change has come over these shores since 
the day that Paul " left his cloak, books, and 
parchments" there with Carpus, (II Timothy 
4: 13.) 

At sunset we were up with MityUne, and late 
in the evening we stopped at its port for pas- 
sengers, and at an early hour the following 
morning, we were at anchor before Smyrna. 
Here we enjoyed the pleasure of another short 
visit in the families of our missionary brethren, 
Messrs. Riggs, Benjamin, and Johnson. 

In the afternoon we bade them "farewell," 



112 



VOYAGE IN THE LEVANT. 



and embarked on our pilgrimage to Syria and 
the Holy Land, It was a lovely evening. At 
ten o'clock we were up with Seio, the Chios of 
Acts 20: 15. At an earlv hour the following 
morning we passed Samos, and ere long had 
Patmos on our right, eight or ten miles in 
the distance. To this bleak, barren, and irre- 
gular shaped island, ten or twelve miles in 
length, by six in breadth, John, the beloved dis- 
ciple, was banished, "for the Word of God, and 
for the testimony of Jesus Christ.'' The sight 
of Patmos, grey, rocky and naked, might well 
awake emotions unique and impressive. The 
mighty and wondrous scenes, to occur in the 
revolving ages of Gospel history, to its final con- 
summation, which were there pictured before 
him, for the instruction and admonition of the 
Church, have afforded themes which men, if not 
angels, have " desired to look into" more clearly 
in all ages. They are historic columns, whose 
plinth rested on the blood-stained foundation of 
the Eoman Empire, but whose entablature 
reaches the cloudless and peaceful regions of 
heaven, there surmounted by Zion's King — the 
spiral hieroglyphic inscriptions on whose shaft, 
can only well be deciphered by those who are 
above their parallel of altitude. 

Patmos is one of the Sporades, and has one or 
two good harbours. There is on it an ancient 
convent, of massive structure, called the Con- 



VOYAGE IN THE LEVANT. 



113 



vent of St. John. Attached to this convent is 
a grotto, shown by the monks as the abode of 
the Apostle. The celebrated English Oriental 
traveller, Dr. E. E>. Clarke, visited Patmos the 
first of the present century, where he spent 
several days. In addition to the monks of the 
convent, he estimated the number of inhabitants 
then on the island to have been three hundred. 
There is now said to be a much larger number, 
entirely Greek, and miserably poor. 

From this point " we came with a straight 
course to Coos? a long, narrow, and boot- 
shaped island, having an aspect of unusual fer- 
tility, " and the day following unto Rhodes," as 
a severe Sirocco met us soon after we passed 
Coos, and our Captain deemed it prudent to take 
refuge at a port in the little island of Symi. 
which lies near the coast, about thirty miles 
N. W. of Rhodes. In this desolate spot super- 
stition has erected a monastery, from w 7 hich, in 
the darkness of the evening, we w y ere not a little 
delighted with " the sound of the church-going 
bell, 5 '' so much reminding us of our ow^n far-off 
homes, and the Christian privileges we had 
there enjoyed. The whole southern coast of 
Asia Minor has a rugged and repulsive aspect. 
Near where we now lay was 44 Cnidus" and it 
was here the adverse winds commenced that in 
the end resulted so disastrously to Paul and his 
fellow prisoners, Acts 27: 7. The wind not 

H 



114: VOYAGE IN THE LEVANT. 

suffering us" to proceed, we remained for the 
night. 

The following morning we entered the an- 
cient harbour of Rhodes at ten o'clock, A. M. 
This part of the island is about ten miles from 
the main land. We soon rowed to the shore 
to visit the remarkable fortifications and palaces 
of the Knights of St. J ohn of Jerusalem, and 
from which they were expelled by the superior 
power of the Turks, A. D., 1522, after sustain- 
ing an heroic siege, having held the island from 
1510. Erected of stone, many of these palaces 
and houses seem to have remained just as they 
were left by the Knights. Numbers of them 
bear the armorial shields of the nations, Eng- 
lish, French, and others, to which they belong- 
ed. We were quite astonished at the great 
number of stone balls, of various sizes, which 
lay around in every direction, it w r ould seem, 
just as they fell from the bombs of Suleiman the 
Magnificent three hundred and fifty years ago. 
We measured some of these balls, which w r ere 
more than twenty inches in diameter! 

This once fertile and populous island, like 
every other green spot, that has been touched 
with the blighting hand of the Turk, has re- 
ceived its mildew, has withered, and lost 
nearly all its glory. 

It was the afternoon of the twentieth of 
December when we left the island, and the 



VOYAGE IN THE LEVANT. 



US 



following day we cast anchor in the roadstead of 
Larneca on the south side of Cyprus. This is- 
land seems even more miserable than Ehodes. 
We landed to make some explorations, and 
here, for the first time, w 7 e saw buildings erected 
with szm-dried brick, composed of clay, and cut 
straw 9 reminding us of the " hard bondage" of 
Israel of old in Egypt. We w r alked over ex- 
tensive fields, filled with broken pieces of an- 
cient brick, lime, marble, and other relics, the 
ruins of a large city. Many excavations to ob- 
tain cut stone, columns, and specimens, for 
building purposes, have been made. In the 
evening w r e again proceeded on our voyage. 

Lands and scenes classic had faded from our 
sight to be superseded by others more affecting; 
and our first impression of scenes sacred — 
Lebanon,— seen by us as we approached the 
Syrian coast, in all its extent and glories, quite 
exceeded in grandeur all our anticipations. 

Early in the morning of the twenty-second 
of December we came in sight of the lofty ranges 
oiLehanon^tli^t " goodly mountain" which Moses 
so much wished to behold. A severe sirocco 
gale had drifted us during the night consider- 
ably farther north than our direct course would 
have been, but as we ran down for Beirut, we 
had a fine view of Lebanon, the snowy top and 
sides of Jebel Makmel in the north, ten thous- 
and five hundred feet high, apparently running 



116 



VOYAGE IN TEE LEVANT* 



nearly east and west, and the hardly less beauti- 
ful Jebel Sunnin, nine thousand five hundred 
feet high, which lies in full view from Beirut. 
These fine ranges we thought almost rivalled the 
monarch of the Alps — Mont Blanc. Our an- 
chorage reached, a serene and beautiful sky 
over our head, and a delicious and balmy at- 
mosphere around us, " Pilgrims" as we were, 
we thought of that band of more worthy men 
and women who, two hundred and twenty-nine 
j years before, had landed on the then dark, 
wintry, and inhospitable shores of Cape Cod in 
our far-Gff western home. They found no shel- 
ter on the shore from the freezing blast, no 
Christian sympathy in their severe trials, no 
friendly welcome; but we were destined to have 
reached to us the ready hands, and receive the 
warm-hearted greetings of our own countrymen, 
who compose the noble band of missionaries of 
the American Board of Missions at this inter- 
esting station and its vicinity, But such men 
as Jonas King, pursuing his work of faith on 
that difficult and unpromising, but not to ba 
abandoned field, Greece; Eli Smith, and Whiting, 
and De Forest at Beirut; with those already 
named at Smyrna and Constantinople; and 
others, at these several stations, equally worthy, 
whose names cannot here be enumerated, need 
not " letters of commendation'' from us. They 
constitute a class of intelligent, urbane, and 



VOYAGE IX THE LEVANT. 



117 



Christian gentlemen and ladies, of learned, pious, 
sagacious and devoted missionaries, who, by 
their teaching, their example, and their schools, 
their labours in translating and printing the 
Bible in the various languages of the East, in 
the preparation and publishing of elementary as 
well as classical books, for the education of the 
rising generation, are laying the foundations 
broad and deep for the triumph of the pure Gos- 
pel, and an elevated Christian literature; which 
will carry down their names to the grateful 
homage of unborn millions, and which now 
should secure for them the confidence, the sym- 
pathy, the prayers, and the support of all the 
churches they represent. 



CHAPTER XII". 



BEIRUT AND THE MISSIONARIES ARABIC SERMON. 

Beirut — IfcsPleasant Situation— Walls — Suburbs — American 
Missionaries— The Karob — " Husks that the Swine did 
eat: " Found in the Bazaars — A Sabbath Yalued — Dr. 
Smith's Arabic Sermon. 

Beirut was to us one of the most picturesque 
and agreeable spots we had seen in the East. 
The walls which surround the town on the land 
side, have an imposing appearance, and are 
in good condition. The castle before the an- 
chorage is in ruins. The most agreeable fea- 
ture in the landscape, is the suburbs, situated on 
the high, sandy, yet cultivated promontory at 
the south and w T est of the city walls. The ver- 
dant and terraced gardens and comfortable 
habitations give to it more of the aspect of 
Europe than of Asia, and present a grateful ap- 
pearance to the eye of the weary voyager. Here 
we landed at the distance of more than a mile 
from the western gate of the town, and were 
conducted to a comfortable house kept by a 
Maltese, the " Hotel de Bellemie^ 

The chapel, printing establishment, and 



BEIRUT AXD THE MISSIONARIES. 



119 



dwellings of our American Missionaries, were 
in this quarter, and we lost no time in calling 
upon them with our letters. Here ten days 
w r ere agreeably occupied in visiting friends, and 
in the needful preparations for our two months' 
excursion through Palestine 3 and over the desert 
into Egypt. In its bazaars we first saw the 
pods of the karob for sale. This bean of the 
karob-tree is doubtless the " husks that the 
swine did eat" referred to in Luke 15: 16. The 
name has come down from scripture times, and 
it seems a pity that the word is not better tran- 
slated into our version, so as to be understood 
by the general reader. The tree is common in 
Syria. It grows quite large. I saw it also in 
Malta. The bean much resembles the locust 
bean, growing from four to eight inches long, 
and full an inch wide. I procured specimens 
of them here, and subsequently at Jerusalem, 
where they are exposed for sale in the bazaars. 
The pod is nearly black, sweet to the taste, and 
when fresh, has, beside the bean, a sweet pulp 
or syrup in it. The Arabs make a pleasant 
drink by putting them into their water. The j 
poorer people eat them, and it is said that they 
are still given to the swine to eat. The Arabic 
name is Kharub, the scripture or Greek name 
Kerateon, from the horn-like ends of the pod. 

We felt that it w T as a kind ordering of Pro- 
vidence that we could spend two Sabbath days 



120 BEIRUT AXD THE MISSIONARIES. 

near the mission families, at this interesting sta- 
tion, and enjoy their cherished society and reli- 
gious privileges. To the Christian pilgrim in 
the Orient, a Sabbath at one of these mission 
stations is like an oasis in the desert to a weary 
wanderer on its wastes— long deprived of Evan- 
gelical public religious worship, his heart beats 
warm in smpathy with the sweet Psalmist of 
Israel, and with him he is ready to exclaim, 
" How amiable are Thy tabernacles, Lord of 
hosts! — For a day in thy courts is better than a 
thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the 
house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of 
wickedness." Even to the truly pious, how 
many Sabbaths spent amid our abounding reli- 
gious privileges, seem to leave no vivid and 
practical impression on those who enjoy them. 
Not so, a Sabbath among our missionaries, in 
these lands of moral darkness. 

Those who sympathize with, and pray for the 
I missionary, will love to catch even a faint 
glimpse of the processes of his responsible work, 
and I would fain conduct the reader to the mis- 
sion chapel and its services. 

The first of our Sabbaths here followed the 
day of our arrival. It was a bright and beauti- 
ful morning. The sea, before our apartments, 
on whose angry surges we had been so lately 
tossed, w r as now comparatively hushed to repose, 
and we could look far over its wide expanse. 



BEIRUT AND THE MISSIONARIES. 



121 



The snowy tops of Lebanon, full in our view, 
were gilded up by the rays of a bright sun, render- 
ing the landscape one of impressive grandeur, 
such as is rarely seen. This quiet and subur- 
ban part of Beirut seemed a fitting abode for our 
missionaries to prosecute their peaceful voca- 
tion. " We were glad when they said, Let us 
go up to the house of the Lord." The apart- 
ment fitted up as a chapel for public worship, 
was the ground floor of a part of the house then 
occupied by Mr. Thompson. The room will 
seat, I judge, one hundred and fifty persons. 
Here the morning service, on the Sabbath, is 
conducted in English, and is mainly designed for 
the Frank or European population. 1 noticed, 
however, quite a number of native Christian 
Arab attendants on this service. 

The afternoon services are in Arabic, and 
specially designed for the natives. In accom- 
modation to Eastern prejudice and custom, the 
male and female portions of the congregation 
were separated by a curtain drawn from the pul- 
pit through the centre of the room. 

Having, when in Constantinople, witnessed 
with great pleasure the devout and interesting 
services of the Protestant Armenians, I felt a 
great desire to be present and listen to this ser- 
vice, though it was in an unknown tongue. At 
the hour appointed, a goodly number of males, 
and several females, assembled and listened with 



122 BEIRUT AKD THE MISSIONARIES. 

attention and apparent interest, to a sermon 
preached by the Rev. Eli Smith, D. X)., from 1 
Thess. 5: 17, "Pray without ceasing." It will 
doubtless a little surprise the preacher, if by 
chance this should meet his eye ; to see an at- 
tempt to reproduce his sermon, or rather its 
leading heads, here in an English dress, as he is 
entirely ignorant of the fact, that a brother mis- 
sionary present took down notes, and handed 
them to me. Imperfectly, as they doubtless do, 
convey the full impression of their original, I 
think it w r ill yet interest the friends of the 
cause, to have even this meagre specimen of the 
instruction that is so faithfully spread before the 
minds of those to whom the missionary is sent. 

It will be borne in mind that this sermon was 
addressed to auditors w 7 ho had been educated 
under the corrupt teaching of the Eastern 
churches, in which angels, saints, and especially 
the Virgin Mary, are objects of prayer and im- 
portant intercessors for the suppliant — their 
religion, like the Catholic, consisting much in 
external pomp and genuflections. 

My chief design, however, in presenting this 
sketch here will be attained, if its perusal shall 
lead the reader more habitually, and with great- 
er importunity, to pray without ceasing for the 
success of these and other missionary labourers 
on their extending fields; and without further 
remark, I will introduce here our Arabic sermon. 



BEIRUT AND THE MISSIONARIES* 



123 



Text— 1 Thess. 5: 17, " Pray without ceas- 
ing." All sects of all religions pray. Some- 
thing in man's nature impels him to pray, and 
God teaches and commands all men to pray. 

I. What is prayer? Prayer is conversation 
of man's spirit with God. (a) It is spiritual, 
not intellectual, not lip service, with books or 
without books, not gesture but spiritual. (b) 
It is with God; it is God's peculiar province to 
hear prayer. Whatsoever we pray to is our 
trust — is our God; we may not pray to creatures; 
he forbids it. (p) It is conversation; not com- 
mitting to memory a psalm, nor hearing a ser- 
mon, nor meditation. 

II. Kinds of prayer, (a) mental; (&) audible. 

1. Individual, and this should be secret, so 
commanded by our Lord. We have also his 
example, and the example of David, Daniel, and 
others. 

2. Family prayer; this is important. 

3. Social prayer, This must not be mere 
form, with the thoughts on all things rather 
than God. It may be with a book, or without 
a book of prayer. Not in an unknown tongue, 
but in it all hearts should ascend together. 

III. Times and places of prayer. God has 
not specified days and places and number of 
times. God does not say at what time; in the 
morning, noon, sun-set or midnight, {Islamic 
hoars.) 



124: BEIRUT AND TEE MISSIONARIES. 

IV. Intercessors in prayer. We need one, 
but who shall he be? (a) Not mere man; he 
needs an intercessor too, be he a saint in heaven 
or on earth, (b) Not one who is not human; 
we would not trust his sympathy so well. An- 
gels then will not do. (V) The man Christ 
Jesus, who is also God, alone can fill this office, 
and God hath appointed him to it. 

V. Benefits of prayer. (a) 'We receive 
much that we need by means of prayer: 1. 
God has promised this in many places in his 
word. 2. Man has often found by experience 
that God is faithful to perform this promise. 
(b) Prayer humbles us. (e) Prayer exalts us. 

Application — Do we pray? Much that is 
called prayer is otherwise; there is but little true 
prayer about us here. True prayer can be of- 
fered only by God's aid. The prayer of the sinner 
determined to continue in his sins is offensive. 

Eepenting of sin, believing in God, approach 
him through Christ Jesus, and pray without 
ceasing. 



CHAPTER XIII 



ASSYRIAN MONUMENTS ON MOUNT LEBANON. 

The Layard Marbles; their chief value to the Christian — 
Sennacherib's Doom — Monuments in the British Museum, 
and Palace of the Louvre — Ride to Nahr El Kelb — Our 
Company — Doctor De Forrest — Eev. W. F. Williams — St. 
George and the Dragon — The Sides of Lebanon — Maronite 
Tillages — Numerous Convents — Arrival at the jSTahr El 
Kelb — Soman Mile Stone — The Various Monuments: Dr. 
Athen's mistake concerning them — Sculptures in the 
Limestone Rock— Egyptian Monuments — Assyrian, coun- 
terparts of those in the British Museum: their Wonderful 
Preservation — The Dog River — Turkish and Arabic in- 
scriptions — Return to Beirut — Rich reward for our toil. 

It has long been known that ancient monu- 
ments of a remarkable character exist in Asia 
Minor, and in Syria, on a spur of Lebanon, a 
few hours' ride north of Beirut. The most re- 
markable of those at the last-named locality, are 
neither Egyptian, nor Grecian, nor Eoman, and 
conjecture had attributed to them an Assyrian 
origin, which the discoveries of Mr. Layard, on 
the banks of the Tigris, have verified. 

The announcement of those discoveries, and 
the subsequent arrival in England and deposit 
in the British Museum of a large number of 



126 



ASSYRIAN MONUMENTS 



specimens of Assyrian sculpture, have greatly 
increased the public interest in these monu- 
ments. 

The " Layard marbles 55 are the first fruits 
from the entombed ruins of the old Assyrian 
empire, whose very existence had been all but 
forgotten, before the annals of authentic history 
began; but, after a slumber of twenty-five cen- 
turies, their history seems destined to a resur- 
rection and a record, as authentic as that of 
Egypt or Greece. 

Their relation to the Bible, however, clothes 
these monuments with their chief importance, 
in the estimate of the Christian. We believe 
that, in this aspect, the designs of Providence in 
their preservation and discovery, are now just 
beginning to be seen. Nearly all that is reli- 
able in history, in regard to the existence, 
extent, power and conquests of a vast empire, 
every vestige of which seemed to have been 
blotted from existence, has hitherto been found 
in the sacred records. In those records, we 
learn the fearful agency which the despots who 
swayed that ancient colossus of the north had 
in the extirpation of the ten tribes, and in op- 
pressing Juclah. The fearful judgment which 
befell the army of Sennacherib, recorded in II 
Kings, 1 9: 35, is supposed to have been one of 
the principal causes which led to the destruction 
of the empire. At that early period, prophetic 



ON MOUNT LEBANON. 127 

vision had uttered its maledictions against 
Assyria: " I will show the nations thy naked- 
ness, and the kingdoms thy shame; I will cast 
abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, 
and it shall come to pass that all they that look 
upon thee, shall flee from thee, and say, 'Nineveh 
is laid waste. Thy shepherds slumber, King 
of Assyria; thy nobles shall dwell in the dust; 
thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and 
no man gathereth thee.* > " 

When in London, we attentively examined 
the Layard slabs soon after they were deposited 
in the British Museum. They are executed in 
bas-relief, and appear to be historic in their 
design. While their sculptures reveal a high 
degree of progress in the arts at the early 
period in which they were executed, many of 
the subjects which they pourtray — war and its 
concomitants — publish the dark tales of human 
depravity, and prove no less certainly than the 
Word of God, that the fearful lesson which the 
deluge should have impressed on all subsequent 
generations, was soon effaced, and that again 
" the earth was filled, with violence." 

But these monuments of Assyria did not con- 
sist in mere sculptured blocks or slabs of stone. 
They present to the eye long records inscribed 
in wedge-form, or arrow-head characters, the 
key to decipher which, has not yet been found. 
The investigations of the learned and acute, it 



ASSYRIAN MONUMENTS 



is hoped, will soon arrive at the desired 
result. 

At the time we examined these interesting 
relies, we had before us all that we ever ex- 
pected to see of the works of that long-forgotten 
race, the Assyrian, save the few which had 
found a resting-place in the Palace of the 
Louvre in Paris. Months, however, rolled on, 
and by the good hand of our Heavenly Father's 
guidance, we found ourselves under the shadow 
of Lebanon, safely at anchor in the roadstead of 
Beirut, and on the confines of that land of 
wonders, Palestine. 

A carefully- written contract with two com- 
petent Dragomen, executed in the presence of 
the American Consul, providing for every thing 
requisite for our entire journey, tents, cot-beds 
and bedding, stores and canteen cf cooking 
utensils, and last, though not least, our worthy- 
old Nubian cook, exhibited all to our satisfac- 
tion. One item alone remained to be tested 
previous to our entering upon the long journey 
before us. This was the trial of our horses. 

Our Missionary friends had planned for us a 
day's excursion to the Nahr el Keib, or Dog 
River, about three hours north of Beirut on 
the sea shore, the ride also furnishing opportun- 
ity to test the qualities of our animals. We 
set off at an early hour, accompanied by Doctor 
De Forrest and the Rev. W. F. Williams, sub- 



QN MOUNT LEBANON. 129 

sequently removed to Mosul, on the banks of 
the Tigris. Our party formed, when all mount- 
ed, quite a cavalcade. We passed directly 
around the city walls, beyond which, at the dis- 
tance of a mile, we reached a massive stone 
foundation some twelve feet high, which would 
seem to have once formed the base of an old 
crusader's tower. The side next the road has 
some soapy stains. This has the honour of 
being designated as the place where St. George 
washed his hands after he had killed the dragon 
in the field adjacent. The spot where the 
achievement occurred, has been seized upon by 
the Mohammedans in their zeal to monopolize 
sacred places, and is dignified with a Mosque, 
One would think they would hardly care to per- 
petuate this legend of the Crusaders, which seems 
designed to pourtray the triumphs of Christianity 
over the dragon Mohammed. 

Pursuing our ride, as we crossed a small 
mountain stream, the horse of one of our ladies 
very deliberately laid himself down in the water, 
in spite of the urgent expostulations of his fair 
rider; but a wet foot or a wet coat are trifling 
matters with a traveller in this region. 

The sides of Lebanon present a naked and 

sterile aspect, yet there are many villages to be 

seen, occupied principally by Maronites, and 

other Christian sects. Their houses are of 

stone. The steep slopes of the mountain ridges 

I 



130 



ASSYRIAN MONUMENTS 



are frequently terraced. The mulberry tree is 
extensively cultivated in this region, for produc- 
ing silk. Convents are numerous on the ridges, 
you may count a dozen in view at one time. 

Before mid-day we arrived at the place of 
our destination* This high and rocky spur of 
Lebanon, which hangs over the Mediterranean 
in a precipice, is skirted on the north by Dog 
River, the ancient Lvcus. On ascending the 
■ hill, the first object of antiquity we met with, 
i w T as a prostrated Roman mile-stone, with in- 
scriptions. We soon came to the monuments, 
some of which are referred to in vol. II. of Mr. 
Layard's "Nineveh and its remains," They 
have generally been confounded^ and Dr. Ant-lion 
in his Classical Dictionary, under the article 
Sesosiris, has fallen into the common error in 
reference to them; whereas there are several 
distinct monuments, which we shall attempt, 
though imperfectly, to describe. 

They are all cut conspicuously on the perpen- 
dicular face of the limestone rock, at different 
elevations, but near to what would seem to have 
. been the earlv chariot track over this rocky lecl^e. 
The present path below, is near to the verge of 
the precipice. It was excavated by order of 
the Roman Emperor Antoninus. 

The first monument in the series, and doubt- 
less the most ancient, is Egyptian^ and generally 
referred to the time of Sesostris, one thousand 



ON MOUNT LEBANON. 131 

three hundred years before Christ. The exter- 
nal sculpture of the " Cartouche/' Or tablet, is 
perfect. The hieroglyphic al figures are visible, 
but nearly effaced by the attrition of the winds, 
and the damps of their exposed situation. They 
are, however, sufficiently distinct to leave no 
doubt of their identity, and are a monumental 
proof of the invasions of that early conqueror. 

The next monuments in the series are the 
Assyrian. Of these there are several-. They 
are executed in bas-relief, perfect counterparts 
of some of those in the British Museum. They 
represent the king, alone, attired as in the Lay- 
ard slabs; the cap, or tiara, truncated cone- 
shaped, with a short horn on the top. One 
might well infer, as we did, that both were 
executed by the same artist. They present the 
side view of an erect, full length, and fine figure. 
The tablets or pannels on which they are 
sculptured, are about three feet by seven. 
Across the legs are long inscriptions or writing, 
in the w r edge form, or arrow head characters. 
Exposed as they have been to the weather, for 
twenty-five centuries, it may w r ell be looked upon 
as a remarkable providence that these inscrip- 
tions should be at all legible. Yet one of them 
in particular is perfectly readable. 

As there were several Assyrian invasions, 
perhaps these inscriptions, when deciphered, 
will prove to be a record of those events, in the 



ASSYRIAN MONUMENTS 



order of their occurence. I venture this sug- 
gestion, and will merely add. that the circum- 
stance of some of the tablets being more perfect 
than others, would go to confirm in a measure 
the conjecture. 

These singular pieces of sculpture have been 
the wonder of mankind for more than twenty 
centuries, from Alexander the Great to our own 
times, with none to explain their origin. The 
Rev. Henry Maundreil, chaplain to the English 
Factory at Aleppo, in prosecuting a journey to 
Jerusalem, was here on the 17th of March, A. 
X). 1696. In noticing these monuments in his 
journal, "In passing this way," he says, ;fi we 
observed in the sides of the rock above us several 
tables of figures carved, which seemed to promise 
something of antiquity; to be satisfied of which, 
some of us climbed up to the place, and found 
there some signs, as if the old way had gone in 
that region before Antoninus cut the other more 
convenient passage a little lower. In several 
places hereabouts we saw strange antique figures 
of men, carved in this natural rock in mezzo 
relievo, and in bigness equal to life." 

As we gazed upon them, they produced a 
strong impression that there were deep designs 
of Providence in their preservation. The wrath 
of these conquering Assyrians shall be made to 
praise the Lord. I seemed to hear him saying 
to each of them, as to Cyrus, " I girded thee, 



ON MOUNT LEBANON. 



133 



though thou hast not known me." The inti- 
mation of the Prophet Isaiah, in II Kings, 19: 
23, in regard to the way that the invading 
armies of Assyria entered Palestine, has a con- 
firmation most emphatic: " By thy messengers 
thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, 
with the multitudes of my chariots, I am come 
up to the heights of the mountains, to the sides 
of Lebanon" 

The next in the series of these monuments is 
a niche, or more than one, of about the size of 
the others, but now empty, having been once 
filled by a metallic tablet or inscription. This 
w T as probably the monument of Alexander, or 
one of the Eoman emperors. 

As we descended the road (we might as well 
say stairs) on the north, we came to a kind of 
pedestal on the verge of the precipice. Deep 
down in the waters of the Mediterranean below 
is seen a large stone block, said to be a sculp- 
tured w T olf or dog, and w T hich gives the present 
name — "Dog River" to the ancient Lyeus 
(Wolf). We thought we could see the outlines 
of an animal on the block. At the foot of the 
promontory we reached the river, and following 
up its course a short distance, came to a long 
Turkish or Arabic inscription, but which none 
of our party were able to read. This completes 
the enumeration of these remarkable monuments. 
We returned to Beirut, feeling that the fatigues 



134 



ASSYRIAN MONUMENTS. 



of the day had been richly rewarded in what we 
had seen.* 

i We have received a letter from Mr, Williams, written at 
Mosul, in which he conveys highly interesting intelligence 
of the progress which is made in deciphering the inscriptions 
found on the recently-discovered monuments of the old 
Assyrian empire. 

" Across the river," he says, "the excavations of Koriunjuk 
continue, but no new wonders are revealed. But those 
heretofore uncovered are beginning to yield up their long- 
imprisoned secrets, and the mystery of the arrow-headed 
characters is rapidly becoming no longer a mystery. The 
persevering labours of Col. Eawlinson are yielding a rich 
harvest of collateral proof, to the minute accuracy of the 
Scriptural record, 

" He has found a full record of the Assyrian monarchs 
contemporary with the Jewish kings from David to Zedekiah, 
and evidence of diplomatic intercourse. He specially men- 
tioned the names of Jehu and Menahem, but the deciphering 
work is but begun. 

" Of Sennacherib's own account of his campaign against 
I Hezekieh, he is preparing a translation for publication, I 
suppose. It is found on one of the bulls at Koriunjuk, and 
is very long and minute. Sennacherib's portrait is there 
also, taken by his artist from the life; but those who captured 
his palace afterward vented their rage, by cutting off his 
hands and his face — pretty essential parts of a satisfactory 
portrait, even in full length. However, it puts one quite 
back to Scripture scenes and times, to know that the par- 
ticular carved slab on which you look was in its day a ver- 
isimilitude of that insulter of Jehovah. It would afford me 
great pleasure to escort your party thither, and show you the 
wards of Sennacherib's palace." 



CHAPTEE XIV. 



SIDOX, SAREPTA AND TYRE. 

Lebanon Mountain Range — Anti-Lebanon — Expenses of 
travelling in Palestine — Departure from Beirut — St. 
George and the Dragon — Tillages and Olive Groves — 
River Damur — Perils of a fellow-traveller — Xeby Yunas — 
Arrival at Sidon — A night with American Yice-Consul 
Ibrahim Eukhly— Productions around Sidon — Journey 
resumed — A Roman milestone — Distant view of Sidon — 
Arrival at Sarepta — Lunch at a fountain — Elijah's sojourn 
here — Snowy tops of Anti-Lebanon — Phenician Plain — 
New Tears Day — Thoughts of home — Cross the Leontes — 
Arrival at Tyre — Entertained for the night — Dress of our 
hostess — Scripture Illustrations — Walks around the town 
— Ruins of a Cathedral — Predictions of Scripture. 

The Lebanon range of mountains extends 
from beyond Tripoli on the north to Tyre, a 
distance of more than a hundred miles. They 
gradually subside into the mountainous ranges 
of Galilee. I think the best point of observa- 
tion is from the Mediterranean, approaching the 
coast, and at the distance of some twenty miles, 
where you have the whole scene before you. 
The most conspicuous and elevated summits 
rise from seven to ten thousand feet above the 
sea, and are north of Beirut. The range runs 
nearly parallel to the seacoast, at distances van'- 



136 



SIDOHTj SAREPTA AXD TYRE. 



ing from one to four miles, and often spurring 
quite down to the Mediterranean, in high and 
rocky ridges. The western slope appears naked. 
The once famous cedar forests have disappeared, 
if they ever existed on the western slopes. On 
the eastern side, two days north-east of Beirut, 
there is a forest of old and large trees. 

Jebel esh Sheihk, the highest peak of the more 
eastern and parallel range of Anti-Lebanon, is 
regarded as the Hermon of Scripture; it rises 
about east from Sidon. Its snowy top, although 
ten thousand feet high, is not seen along the 
Mediterranean coast before you reach nearly to 
Tyre. 

The expenses incident to a tour through Pales- 
tine, depend much upon the taste and composi- 
tion of the travellers. For our party of five 
persons — two gentlemen and three ladies — we 
paid our Dragomen one pound sterling for each 
person per day, and half that price for my courier, 
from the day we left Beirut until our arrival at 
Cairo, in Egypt. This sum included the whole 
expense of every kind — saddle-horses in Pales- 
tine, and camels from Gaza into Egypt. We 
had new beds with cot bedsteads, an entirely new 
canteen of cooking and table furniture, a com- 
petent Nubian man as cook, with an abundant 
supply for our table. 

A party of gentlemen may travel very com- 
fortably for little more than half that sum per 



SIDONj SAREPTA AND TYRE. 



137 



day. For our better security, we had the ser- 
vices of two Dragomen. 

Having made the best possible arrangements 
for comfort and protection on our journey, to be 
performed in the midst of the rainy season, the 
day fixed upon for our departure was one of 
peculiar interest. We were about to enter a 
land made sacred as the abode of patriarchs, 
prophets and apostles, and of Him whose ad- 
vent they all but subserve. We were to bid 
adieu, probably to meet no more in the flesh, 
our kind Christian friends comprised in the 
mission families. We were to turn our backs 
upon the pleasant suburbs of Beirut, where to 
us had been more than verified its Augustan 
name — Julia Felix (Happy), and were now to 
grapple with new and untried toils and perils, 
particularly to the ladies of our party, not much 
inured to the fatigues of eight or nine hours on 
horseback for successive days, and over the 
worst conceivable track in many places. 

Our first day's stage was to be to Sidon, not 
far from thirty miles. Rising at an early hour, 
at half-past eight A. M., our baggage was 
safely swung on the sides of our pack-horses, 
destined to convey it, and our party were 
mounted on those that each had selected for the 
journey, making in all a display of nearly or 
quite twenty horses with muleteers, and other 
appliances. 



133 SIDON, SAREPTA AND TYRE. 

We were not a little cheered by the com- 
pany of three or four of our friends, who, to us 
quite unexpectedly, were at our door, mounted, 
to accompany us some miles on our way. 

Passing around the western and southern 
wall of the city, we soon came to a pine grove, 
on the sandy plain south-east of the city, which 
was originally planted more than two hundred 
years before, by the powerful Druze Emir Fakhr 
ed Din. Maundrell describes this, and also a 
magnificent orange grove existing at the time of 
his visit, in the vicinity of "Faccardiue's" palace 
in Beirut, This chief had acquired his know- 
ledge and taste for architecture and vertu, by 
travelling in Italy. There are many monu- 
ments still existing in Tyre, Sidon, and this 
region, which attest his enterprise and power. 

This whole coast is fruitful in traditional 
legends, and we soon came to a spot which dis- 
putes with the more popular location, some two 
miles or more north of Beirut, for the honour of 
being the place where the warrior hero St. 
George combatted and killed the dragon. The 
northern location, however, was authenticated, 
and had the honour of a Christian Greek church 
over the spot, to commemorate the event. The 
church is now converted into a Mohammedan 
mosque. To this we have referred in our pre- 
vious chapter. The legeud runs thus: — St. 
George there challenged and killed the dragon 



SIDO^ SAREPTA AND TYKE. 



139 



which was about to devour the daughter of the 
king of Beirut. In our visit to the Nahr el 
Kelb, we passed very near the spot, but did not 
stop. Dr. Pocock, one hundred years before, 
visited the place, and says, "near the mosque is 
a well, and they say the dragon usually came 
out of the hole, which is now the mouth of it. 55 
The tale, I believe, was originally designed to 
pourtray the triumph of Christianity over the 
dragon Mohammed. 

We noticed numerous villages on the sides of 
Lebanon, and at its base fine olive groves and 
mulberry trees, and in less than three hours we 
came to the site of an ancient town, and passed 
numerous stone sarcophagi. At mid- day we 
reached the river Damur, remarkable as the 
place where Herod the Great caused two of his 
sons to he executed. The fording of this rather 
rapid stream had been anticipated with some 
apprehension. Our baggage horses preceded us 
in safety, and with little harm to our luggage. 
My travelling companion, Dr. S., was not as 
fortunate as the rest of us. In the attempt to 
encourage and assist his sister in crossing, his 
horse got into deep water, and plunged him 
into the stream. Wet as he was when he 
safely emerged to the shore, his clothes had to 
be worn until our arrival at Sidon. This was 
the grand incident of the day — fortunately the 
only disastrous one of our long journey. The 



140 



SIDON, SAREPTA AND TYRE. 



day, although the last in the year, was very 
warm, and no ill consequences resulted to our 
medical friend. We spread our cloth on the 
ground, at an old Kahn near the river, and ate 
our lunch. Resuming our journey, two hours 
further on, we reached Neby Yunas, or the place 
where, according to the legend, the prophet 
Jonas made his landing out of the mouth of the 
monster of the deep, where he had been em- 
bosomed, and from his perilous three days and 
nights' voyage in the deep recesses of the sea. 

It is a small but fine sandy beach. Here is 
an old Kahn and Mohammedan Wely, as all 
these traditional sacred places are much vener- 
ated by the Moslems, and are especially mono- 
polized by them for mosques or saints 5 tombs. 

At five o'clock, P. M. we entered the gate of 
Sidon, and were conducted through its narrow, 
crooked and filthy streets, to the house of the 
American Vice- Consul, Ibrahim Nukhly, where 
we spent the night very comfortably. His 
daughter, the child referred to by Dr. Robinson, 
(vol. iii, p. 417,) had survived the sickness 
which he foreboded would be her last, but was 
now afflicted with an abscess; and we recom- 
mended him to take her to Beirut for the 
medical attention of Dr. De Forest. 

The region around Sidon is better cultivated, 
in many respects, than almost any other place 
in Palestine. Fine oranges and bananas are 



STD r >y. SAP.EPTA AND TYKE. 



141 



here produced. The fig trees here, and eke- 
where in Palestine, are very large; the fruit we 
met ^as. however, small and inferior. Sugar 
cane is also produced here. The population is 
estimated at about five thousand. Sidon has 
been so often described by travellers, that we 
shall give it but a passing notice. 

The following morning we rose, as usual, at 
an early hour, examined the town and harbour, 
and at nine o'clock. A. M. were on our wav to 
Tyre. 

Soon after leaving Sidon, we had a good view 
of the house occupied by that eccentric charac- 
ter. Lady Hester Stanhope. It is two hours' 
distance up on the sides of Lebanon, 

In half an hour we passed a prostrated Soman 
milestone, with inscriptions. Maundrell had 
seen it in the same position one hundred and 
fifty-one years before. He removed some of 
the earth that had partially embedded it. and 
copied in full its long inscription, which runs 
thus — I MPE E AT OSES C-ESAEES, L. SEP- 

timius seveeus, pius peetixax. 

AEG: etc. 

The remains of a Soman paved road along 
the whole coast are seen very often. Judging 
from the appearance of the stones as they now 
lie. it could not have been of very smooth sur- 
face. 

At one or two hours' distance from Sidon, 



142 



SIDOST, SAREPTA AND TYRE. 



we were much impressed with its conspicuous 
and beautiful appearance, projecting as it does 
somewhat into the sea. 

We reached Sarepta at half past eleven 
o'clock, A. M. Here we dismounted, at a foun- 
tain close to the sea-shore, and under a large 
tamarisk tree overshadowing it, read the account 
of Elijah's sojourn here with the widow of 
Zarephath, 1 Kings, xvii. Our thoughts ran 
back twenty-eight hundred years, to that period 
when the prophet had often, doubtless, repaired 
to this same fountain where we now sat eating 
our lunch of Yankee mince-pie, furnished by the 
ladies of Beirut, and drinking of the pure water 
of the fountain. 

We re-mounted our horses, and left the foun- 
tain at Sarepta at twelve o'clock, M. Elijah 
was at the Brook Ohereth when 'the word of the 
Lord came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to 
Zarephath, which belonged to Zidon-, and dwell 
there: behold, I have commanded a widow 
woman there to sustain thee," 1 Kings, 
17: 9. 

This Brook Chereth, Dr. Eobinson suggests, 
may very probably have been the Wedy Kelt, a 
deep gorge from the Wilderness of Judea, in the 
immediate vicinity of Jericho. If that view is 
correct, the journey of the prophet to Sarepta 
must have required five or six days of time, and, 
as his patrons, the ravens, may have failed in it, 



SIDON, SAREPTA AND TYRE. 143 

to furnish him with "bread and meat morning 
and evening," we may well presume, that he 
was in extreme exhaustion, when, on his arrival 
here, he besought the famished widow to bring 
him a " morsel of bread. - ' The narrative is full 
of deep interest and instruction, illustrating a 
wise sovereignty of the Lord in the allotments of 
men, and the safety of those who confide in his 
ascertained promises. "The barrel of meal 
wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, 
according to the word of the Lord, which he 
spoke by Elijah." 

" Many widows were in Israel in the days of 
Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years 
and six months, when great famine was through- 
out all the land. But to none of them was 
Elijah sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Siclon, 
unto a woman that was a widow." Luke, 4: 
25, 26. 

At a quarter past one o'clock, P. M., we 
passed over an ancient broken pottery and other 
debris of a considerable town. On one spot we 
noticed the Eoman mosaic pavement of an 
ancient edifice or bath. On our left, in the 
face of the rocky ridge, were the openings of 
numerous excavations of tombs. In half an 
hour more we crossed the deep bed of a stream, 
just below the standing arches of a ruined 
bridge. Here we enjoyed, for the first time, a 
fine view of the snowy tops of Anti-Lebanon, 



144: 



SIDON, SAREPTA AND TYRE. 



" that goodly mountain" that Moses so clearly 
saw at more than one hundred miles distance, 
and so much desired to visit, as he stood upon 
the high table-land east of the Jordan, at the 
close of his eventful life. 

The Phenician plain we found to average 
generally from one to two miles in width — » 
occasionally it will be considerably more. The 
numerous inhabitants anciently occupying its 
maritime ports, must have depended for their 
grain and animal food very much upon the ad- 
jacent region of Galilee, (Acts, 12: 20.). much 
of the surface being rocky and unproductive, 
A New Year's Day, occupided in riding over 
that part of this plain, lying between Sidon and 
Tyre, with a temperature of 80° to 90°, under a 
clear blue sky and bright sun, was very unlike 
the experience or occupation of our friends in 
the far West. As our sun began to decline 
beneath the dark waters of the Mediterranean, 
we knew that it was climbing high to its zenith 
over dear and distant loved ones, whose abodes 
we trusted were made cheerful by the accus- 
tomed and agreeable "salutations of the season" 
— quite sure, too, that we should not be forgot- 
ten in the greetings. 

At three o'clock, P. M., we crossed the 
Leontes. During the day we occasionally 
passed herds of black goats, feeding upon the 
rocky ridges under the care of shepherds. On 



SIDONj SAHEPTA AND TYRE. 



145 



more fertile spots we noticed fields that had 
been planted with corn the previous year. At 
a later period of our journey, when at Jericho, 
we noticed there, that the old corn stalks sent 
out fresh shoots for a second year's growth. 

The traveller here has an extensive view of 
the Phenician plain, generally, as before remark- 
ed, to appearance about two miles wide. We 
now had Tyre in full view. In the distance, its 
tall date palm trees add much to the imposing 
effect of the site, projecting as it does more than 
half a mile into the Mediterranean. 

At half-past four o'clock, P. M., we reached 
the only gate of the town near the water on the 
northern side of the Isthmus, from which we 
were conducted to the house of the American 
Consular agent, Yakob Akkad, a merchant be- 
longing to the Greek Church, to whom we had 
sent forward by one of our Dragomen, our letters 
of introduction. Here we were hospitably re- 
ceived, and very comfortably entertained for the 
night; and as at Sidon, we were made familiar 
with some of the domestic customs of the better 
classes in the Orient, still prevalent, and which 
illustrated Scripture narrative. As the majority 
our party were ladies, we probably saw much 
more of the females than we should have done 
in other circumstances. The plaited hair of the 
lady of our host was interspersed with a pro- 
fusion of small gold ornaments and coins. 

K 



146 



SIDOXj SAREPTA AXD TYRE. 



This practice is so common among the Arab 
women, that it is said that their dower is usually 
expended on the heads in ornaments of this 
kind. We were often reminded, by this pecu- 
liarity of the female dress, of Paul's injunction, 
(1 Timothy, 2: 9.) Our hostess was otherwise 
richly dressed; we noticed, however, that she 
always left her clogs, or high wooden stilt-like 
shoes (Arabic, Cob. cob.) at the door of the 
large reception room, and entered with bare 
feet. These rooms have a low cushioned divan, 
or platform-seat on three sides; that fronting the 
entrance is the seat of honour, to which we were 
conducted. Luke 14; 7, 11. 

Tyre, as it now exists, is a very poor town, 
with no prospect that it will ever again attain 
any importance* True, it has recovered a little 
from the utter ruin in which it lay two centuries 
ago. Maundrell described it as "a mere Babel 
of broken walls, pillars and vaults, there being 
not so much as one entire house left, and its in- 
habitants only a few poor wretches harbouring 
in vaults, and subsisting chiefly upon fish.'" 
The population now is not far from three thou- 
sand. 

In our explorations of what remains of anti- 
quity here, we first repaired to the ruins of a 
large cathedral church, supposed by Maundrell 
and Dr. Eobinson, to have been erected early 
in the fourth century by Paulinus, the Bishop 



SIDON, SAREPTA AND TYRE. 117 

of Tyre, and in which the church historian 
Eusebius preached the consecration sermon, as 
recorded by himself. Considerable part of the 
eastern end or high altar remains standing. 
We climbed with some difficulty and peril the 
broken steps of a winding passage within it to 
its top. Overhanging as it does the south- 
eastern part of the present barrier of the town, 
we had from it a good view of that part of the 
island without the walls. Some of the wretched 
hovels of the town occupy the space once within 
the body of the church. In one of the yards 
we were shown a splendid large and double 
monolith column of red granite, prostrated on 
the ground. This, with probably others similar, 
once supported and adorned the cathedral. 
They must have been brought from Egypt, with 
great labour and expense. Eeferring to the 
ruins of churches, Maundrell remarks, "It is a 
remarkable fact, that although other parts were 
totally demolished, yet the east end we always 
found standing." 

From this ruin, we repaired to the western 
shore, and followed it round northerly to the 
northern harbour, noticing, as we proceeded, 
with no little interest, the numerous granite 
columns which lay in the water, at various dis- 
tances from the land. 

Tyre occupies a prominent place on the pro- 
phetic and historic pages of the Scriptures. We 



148 



SIDOSr, SA&EPTA ATO TYRE. 



find its riches, power and commercial glory there 
graphically described, and its ruin minutely pre- 
dicted. It therefore challenges from the tra- 
veller more than a mere casual notice. 

It has been so ably and fully described by 
Dr. Eobinson and others, we intended to have 
compressed all that we purposed to say in re- 
lation to it into the present chapter. There 
are, however, several topics of interest to the 
biblical student, not yet settled or exhausted, 
and particularly that relating to the location of 
continental or Old Tyre, to which we wish to 
refer; and which will furnish matter for a dis- 
tinct chapter. 



CHAPTEE 



XV. 



ANCIENT TYRE — ITS RELATION TO PROPHECY. 

Tyre the Subject of Scripture Prophecy — Its Ancient Great- 
ness — Predicted Destruction — Importance of Discrimina- 
tion between Continental and Insular Tyre — Prophetic De- 
nunciations against the former-When built — Discussion re- 
specting its Site — Dr. Robinson's Opinion — Strabo's 
Authority — The Tyrians a Maritime People — Description 
of the Island — Probable changes — Ruins of Ancient Col- 
umns — Seige of Nebuchadnezzar — Destruction of Insular 
Tyre by Alexander — Literal Fulfilment of Prophecy. 

Tyre presents to mankind an impressive con- 
firmation of the inspiration of Scripture prophe- 
cy. If a recurrence to its history, as we find it 
recorded on its annals, is adapted to impart a 
profound interest to the investigations of the Bib- 
lical student; well may the traveller pause as he 
treads over scenes bearing such affecting eviden- 
ces of a pervading and retributive Providence in 
the destiny of our race. 

More than seven hundred years before the 
Christian era, Tyre was described by Isaiah, 
chap, xxiii, as " a mart of nations, whose antiqui- 
ty is of ancient days — the crowning city, whose 
merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the 



ANCIENT TYRE, 



honourable of the earth/' By means of her ex- 
tensive commerce, this proud eminence she long 
maintained. 

One hundred and thirty years subsequent to 
Isaiah, or five hundred and eighty- eight before 
Christ, the prophet Ezekiel was commissioned to 
utter against Tyre those fearful denunciations 
which we find recorded in the twenty-sixth, 
twenty-seventh, and twenty-eighth chapters of 
his prophecies. The twenty-seventh chapter is 
especially occupied in pourtraying the vast extent 
and variety of her commerce and wealth. Jeru- 
salem, in her palmy days, had been a formidale 
rival, and had divided with Tyre the commerce 
of the East; but now that the desolating hand of 
Nebuchadnezzar had " laid her waste," Tyre 
proudly exults, and says, " I shall be replenish- 
ed." It was in the height of this glorying that 
Ezekiel was directed to say, " Thus saith the 
Lord God, Behold I am against thee, Tyrus, 
and will cause many nations to come up against 
thee, as the sea causeth his leaves to come up?* To 
a few of the predictions in the context, and their 
fulfilment, we shall ask the attention of our 
readers. If the subject be old, it is always fresh, 
and has not been exhausted by those who have 
trodden the ground before us. 

Haughty and secure in her towering w T alls 
and impregnable defences, the prophetic voice 
says to her, " I will cause many nations to come 



ITS RELATION TO PROPHECY. 151 

up against thee, they shall destroy the walls of 
Tyrus, and break down her towers; I will scrape 
her dust from her, and make her like the top of 
a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of 
nets in the midst of the sea — they shall lay thy 
stones, and thy timber, and thy dust in the midst 
of the water — though thou be sought for, yet 
shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord 
God." Every one of these denunciations has 
been literally fulfilled! It is, however, important 
to discriminate between Continental or old Tyre, 
and Insular, or new Tyre, for it was specially 
against the former, that they were directed and 
had their accomplishment. 

J osephus informs us that Tyre was built two 
hundred and forty years before the building of 
Solomon's Temple. There was obviously a very 
early settlement upon the island, which now con- 
stitutes its site, as well as upon the continent. 
This fact has doubtless occasioned some indis- 
tinctness in its early annals. The local position 
of continental Tyre, has been a theme of consid- 
erable interest to the antiquarian, and involves a 
very important question to the Christian, in its 
relation to the fulfiment of Scripture predictions. 
Strabo says it was situated thirty stadia south of 
insular Tyre. This has led to the conclusion 
that it was in the immediate vicinity of the foun- 
tains of Ras-El-Ain, which are about an hour, or 
three miles distance upon the plain south-east of 



152 ANCIENT TYREj 

Tyre. Dr. Robinson remarks: " It probably lay 
on the south of these fountains, along the coast, 
and the hill in that quarter may perhaps have 
been its citadel." We think there are insuper- 
able difficulties in adopting this theory; and 
that we are to look for the location of old Tyre 
on the continent, in close proximity to the mole 
of Alexander, and that part of the plain east of 
it. Strabo was nearly a cotemporary of Jose- 
phus. His account was written not far from 
four hundred years subsequent to the con- 
quests of Alexander, by whom every vestige of 
the old city had been removed in the construc- 
tion of his mole. Strabo's information, although 
obtained on the spot, was entirely traditional, 
and perhaps from very questionable sources. 
It is obvious that no maritime place can ob- 
; tain commercial importance without a conven- 
ient harbour or anchorage for its shipping. The 
Tyrians carried on an extensive trade with Cy- 
prus, Rhodes, and the more distant islands of 
the iEgean, and ports on the coast of Asia Min* 
or, as well as with Egypt and northern Africa. 
Her vessels were doubtless of the largest size 
then known to commerce, as well as command- 
ed by men of talent and enterprise. The inhabi- 
tants of Sidon and Arvad were her mariners, 
and the wise men of Tyre her pilots and ship- 
masters. It was only under the lee of the 
Island of Insular Tyre that any adequate or safe 



ITS RELATION TO PROPHECY. 



153 



anchorage could be found. Promont Album 
would afford no protection from the power of the 
sirocco or winter tempests. W e therefore as- 
sume that the marine of Tyre was here alone to 
be found. From what we know of Oriental 
habits, we are warranted in the inference that 
the city would naturally be located in the im- 
mediate proximity of its shipping. The Island 
proper is about a mile in length. It lies paral- 
lel with the shore of the main land, and distant 
half a mile from it. 

Dr, Robinson has suggested that "it was per- 
haps at first a mere ledge of rocks; and inside of 
this, the island was formed by the sand washed 
up from the sea." We derived an impression 
directly the reverse of this. We apprehend that 
the island was originally of considerably larger 
extent than it is now. He well remarks, that 
" the western coast of the island is wholly a 
ledge of rugged picturesque rocks, in some parts 
fifteen or twenty feet high; upon which the waves 
of the Mediterranean dash in ceaseless surges." 
These naked rocks we have little doubt were once 
covered with earth, if not with edifices, and 
formed no inconsiderable portion of the island. 
As we walked along the western shore of the 
island, and to its northern side, we noticed num- 
erous columns lying in the water at different dis- 
tances from the shore, and in one or more 
instances, particularly on the north-western side. 



154: AXCIENT TYRE, 

there are piles of columns, the greater part of 
thein broken. To appearance they once formed 
a cluster pertaining to some former edifice, which, 
in the process of ages, had been undermined by 
the " ceaseless surges" of the Mediterranean, as 
they have beaten with unobstructed power upon 
the peculiarly exposed shore of the western side 
of the island. The question, however, to which 
our attention is particularly directed, is not 
necessarily involved in the fact of the original ex- 
tent of the island. 

The natural relation of thing?, no less than 
Scripture predictions and their fulfilment, point 
us to the main land in proximity to the artificial 
isthmus of Alexander, and to that directly east 
of it, as the site of Palse Tyrus. There " her 
walls and her towers" enclosed an area, which 
doubtless included the little rocky eminence of \ 
ElMa-shuk half a mile east, and terminating at 
the sea, so as to protect her shipping at their 
anchorage under the island. 

Some adequate impression of the strength of 
Tyre at this time, may be inferred from the fact 
that the whole pow r er of Nebuchadnezzar, with 
his " army of many nations," was successfully 
resisted for thirteen years, Ezekiel, 29: 17. dur- 
ing which the very soldiers of his army, in the 
long seige, became old and infirm — " every head 
was made bald, and every shoulder peeled." It 
was in the progress of this long seige, and as the 



ITS RELATION" TO PROPHECY. 



155 



prospects of its termination became more des- 
perate, that the Tyrians removed their most valu- 
able effects to the adjacent island, and there 
established and fortified themselves; so that when, 
at last, the old city was captured, the victors 
found nothing to reward their toils, Ezekiel 29: 
18, and could only exhaust their vengeance on 
naked walls. The process of removing their 
goods and valuables to Insular Tyre, would seem 
to have been carried on unobstructed by the be- 
seiging army, which could not have been done, 
had the old city been three to five miles distant. 

The ruins of the old and devoted city appear 
to have lain undisturbed for the period of two 
hundred and forty years, and the prophecies 
against it but half accomplished; but now the time 
arrives when cr the Scripture must be fulfilled." 
The impetuous and victorious hosts of Alexander 
the Great sweep undelayed around the shores of 
the Mediterranean, until Insular Tyre is reached. 
She alohe refuses to submit to the monarch's 
sway, and bids defiance to his power. 

Alexander had but one course to pursue, if he 
would sustain the ardour of his army; and with 
untiring zeal he sets them to the task of con- 
structing a mole from the shore to the island, a 
distance of more than half a mile; this occupied 
his troops, we are informed, amid the greatest 
difficulties and discouragements, for seven 
j months. The mole, as originally constructed, 



156 



ANCIENT TYRE, 



was not probably more than three or four hun- 
dred feet wide. In the process of ages, vast 
quantities of shifting sands have accumulated up- 
on it and the adjacent shore. With others, we 
estimated the present width of the mole to be 
full half a mile. In the performance of this 
great achievement, "the wrath of man was 
made to praise the Lord." Though he meant 
not so, this work literally accomplished the pre- 
dictions of Ezekiel. In the construction of his 
mole, Alexander used the materials which old 
Tyre afforded to his hand — scraping her dust 
from her, and making her like the top of a rock, 
so that for long ages her site has been but a 
place for the spreading of nets in the midst of 
the sea; her stones and her timbers, and her dust, 
have been laid in the midst of the waters — in 
fact her exact location is utterly lost to mortal 
ken, so that though the most sagacious eye search 
for her, yet shall she never be found. 

We find no necessity in the topogi^phy of 
the region to infer that the old city should have 
been located at the fountains of Ras-el-Ain, 
or south of them, in preference to that which 
we have suggested, but as we have seen, con- 
versely. It is even more than probable that 
the waters from these fountains were conducted 
at a very early period, as we now find them, to the 
Hill El Ma-shuk, to which we have alluded. 
Referring to the invasion of the King of As- 



ITS BELATION TO PROPHECY. 1.57 

syria, Shalmaneser, at the period of the depor- 
tation of the " ten tribes" and the refusal of the 
Tyrians to submit to him, Josephus Ant. 9: 2 
says, " The King of Assyria returned, and placed 
guards at their rivers and acqueducts, 1 who 
should hinder the Tyrians from drawing water. 
This continued for five years; and still the Ty- 
rians bore the siege, and drank of the water 
they had out of the wells they dug." There 
could be no pertinency in this, if the city en- 
closed the fountains. They doubtless had all 
this time, as in the subsequent siege of Nebu- 
chadnezzar, free access to their shipping, and to 
insular Tyre. 

The interest which gathers around the theme 
we have under discussion is our only apology 
for our extended, perhaps prolix, remarks. In 
conclusion, we would say, that to us it seems 
utterly incredible that Alexander should have 
used, to any amount worthy of notice, the ma- 
terials of the old city in the construction of his 
mole, if that city was located, as Strabo and 
others have assumed, at a distance of three to 
five miles. Then indeed her dust has not been 
scraped from her, nor has her site been a place 
for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea. 
We rejoice, however, in the conviction that the 
word of the Lord stands fast for ever, notvvith- 

1 There is no river or stream except what flows from the 
aqueduct or fountain. 



158 



ANCIENT TYRE. 



standing all the mistaken inferences man may 
draw: " For thus saith the Lord God: when I 
shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that 
are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the 
deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover 
thee; when I shall bring thee down with them 
that descend into the pit, with the people of old 
time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the 
earth, in places desolate of old, with them that 
go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; 
and I shall set glory in the land of the living, I 
will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no 
more, though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou 
never be found again saith the Lord God. 55 

We must here again repeat our convictions of 
the importance of discrimination in the applica- 
tion of these predictions. We apprehend that 
those who have undertaken to illustrate the ful- 
filment of Scripture prophecies in relation to 
Tyre, have generally fallen into an error in their 
attempts to apply these predictions to the insular 
as well as ancient city. Their original and 
primary application, we doubt not, w r as to old 
Tyre, and in its fate they had their literal fulfil- 
ment; w T hile we would not deny that, in some of 
their aspects, the vicissitudes of insular Tyre, may 
have been a secondary theme of the inspiring 
Spirit. 



CHAPTER XVI- 



THE PORTION OF AS HER. 

Jacob's blessing — Allotment of the Tribe — Journey from 
Tyre — Visit to the Fountains of Ras El Ain — Ladder of 
Tyre: made by Alexander — Lunch at the Fountain of 
Iskandersund — Crusader's Towers along the Coast — View 
of Carmel from Mount Saron— Arrival at Bussah — A 
Greek Priest: bis family — Incidents of a nigbt among the 
Asherites — Wretched fruits of Mahommedan rule and 
corrupted Christianity— Journey resumed — Plain of Acra: 
its fertility — Josephus' account — Populousness of Galilee 
in ancient times: now capable of yielding "Royal danties." 

We read in the forty-ninth chapter of 
Genesis, that the patriarch Jacob convened his 
sons around his dying couch to receive his part- 
ing and prophetic blessing, " Every one, ac- 
cording to his blessing, he blessed them." Con- 
cerning Asher he said, £; Out of Asher his bread 
shall be fat, and he shall yield royal danties." 

To the tribe of Asher, under the allotment 
by Joshua, fell the sea-coast between Tyre and 
Carmel. The finest portion of this inheritance, 
and that in which the predictions of the patri- 
arch had their fulfilment, was the rich and 
salubrious plain which lies between the white 
promontory of Ras-en-N akura, the Mount Saron 



160 



THE PORTION OF ASEER. 



of the Crusaders, on tlie north, and Carmel on 
the south, having the ancient port of Accho or 
Acra, about central on the coast. To these it 
is our purpose more particularly to refer in a 
subsequent chapter. 

We now ask the attention of the reader to 
some of the incidents of our journey from Tyre 
to Mount Carmel, which occupied us for two 
days. The whole distance lies within the ter- 
ritory allotted to Asher. 

We rose at an early hour, and before nine 
o'clock, had emerged from the lone gate of Tyre, 
which opens on the north side of the mole. We 
crossed to its southern side, and proceeded over 
it to the main land. In a previous chapter we 
have remarked that this artificial isthmus was 
probably not over three or four hundred feet 
wide, as it was constructed by Alexander. The 
accumulation of sands upon it for twenty-two 
centuries, have made it now full half a mile in 
width; at its junction with the main land it is 
much more. In fact this same cause has no 
doubt somewhat diminished the length of the 
mole, as vast quantities of shifting sands have 
accumulated upon, and covered the land for a 
considerable distance in from the margin of the 
Mediterranean. Immediately east of the mole, 
the ruined arches of an ancient aqueduct are 
seen running eastward toward El Ma-shuk. 
Leaving the shore we diverged south-eastwardly, 



THE PORTION OF ASHER, 



161 



and in about forty minutes came to two 
considerable fountains, now used for irrigating 
the land. In an hour from Tyre, we reached 
the remarkable fountains of Ras El Ain. These 
fountains, four in number, are doubtless of very 
great antiquity. Artificial mason work and 
embankments raise them from fifteen to twenty 
feet above the adjacent plain. The water is 
conducted into them from some concealed source. 
It flows in such abundance as to make quite a 
mill-stream. The water holds in solution a 
great quantity of lime. The percolations from 
its sides and connecting acqueducts, have, in 
the process of long ages, formed stalagmites of 
astonishing size. 

The narrow plain before Tyre, is shut off on 
the south, by a high limestone mountain ridge 
which overhangs the Mediterranean, in a fright- 
ful precipice six miles distant from Tyre. This 
is designated as Promont Album, from the high 
and white cliff in which it abruptly terminates 
at the sea. It is crossed on its very margin by 
a narrow, artificially-cut passage, for which 
tradition gives the credit to Alexander the 
Great. It is known as the ladder of Tyre," 
under which name it is referred to in the Apo- 
cryphal w 7 ritings, and by Josephus. After rid- 
ing up or down the rude steps of this passage, 
none will be likely soon to forget the impres- 
sions made by the adventure. As we passed 

h 



162 



TBE PORTION" OF ASHER. 



over it, the reckless pack-animals of our caravan 
seemed bent on discharging their loads into the 
abyss below. We reached this pass in two 
hours and a quarter after leaving Tyre. 

On reaching the summit of the promontory, 
we enjoyed an extensive view. Pursuing our 
journey, we soon passed some old Roman pave- 
ment, and at twelve o'clock, M., reached the 
fountain of Iskandersund, where we rested to 
lunch. During the half hour spent there, we 
undertook, for the benefit of future travellers, 
to clear the approach to the fountain, by the re- 
moval of the loose stones w T hich obstructed an 
easy access to it. This enterprise we noted at 
the time as the first effort at "internal im- 
provements" which had been set on foot in the 
region for the last eight hundred years. 

Our ride proved exceedingly rough. At 
two, P. M., we passed an old crusaders tower. 
Numbers of these structures yet remain along 
the sea-coast. At three, P. M., we reached the 
base of one of those rugged mountain spurs 
which jut down to the sea. On the summit of 
this ridge, we found another tower of the mid- 
dle ages, now used as a khan. We were stand- 
ing on the top of Mount Saron, before referred 
to, and had opened to our view an imposing and 
interesting scene. Before us on the south, at 
j the distance of eighteen or twenty miles, Carmel 
rose, exposed to our gaze in its fall extent, 



THE PORTION OF ASHER. 



163 



awakening recollections of recorded scenes of 
deepest interest. At its base all Israel were 
assembled by Ahab, at the suggestion of Elijah, 
there to test the pretensions of the Prophets of 
Baal. Under its shadow flows the Kishon, 
where after the trial, Elijah slew the confounded 
and dismayed priests of Jezebel. 

At our feet, and extending to Carmel, was 
spread out the beautiful plain of Asher 5 or Acra. 
The hills of Galilee gently slope down to the 
plain, which I estimated to vary between six 
and ten miles in width. We descended obli- 
quely the steep sides of the mountain, into the 
plain, and proceeded, ere the sun had retired 
below the waters of the Mediterranean, to the 
miserable village of Bussah, situated on the 
north-eastern border of the plain* Here we were 
to take up our quarters for the night. As this 
village is a specimen of many others, I shall at- 
tempt very briefly to describe it* The houses 
are mere low hovels, the roofs flat, covered with 
mud, which is rolled hard so as to shed the rain. 
This incumbent mass is sustained by a few rude 
sticks, brush-wood and straw. They have steps 
on the outside leading to the top or roof, and as 
they are generally contiguous, one can walk 
over ranges of them. One of our dragomen 
had preceded us, and secured for our accommo- 
dation a part of the best building in the village, 
the house of the Greek Catholic priest. On our 



161 



THE PORTION OF ASHER. 



arrival we found, that, with the use of his 
broom, he had raised such a dust within the 
premises, as had never before, or probably since, 
been witnessed by its inmates. Yv r e entered 
the premises by creeping through a low portal, 
which landed us upon a hard mud floor, and 
found a capacious apartment, the enclosure af- 
fording accommodations for man and beast. A 
kind of scaffolding was raised some four or five 
feet at one end of the enclosure, and rudely 
floored. This portion of the house was assign- 
ed for the accommodation of our travelling 
party of five persons. From it a small open- 
ing or window afforded us easy access to the 
roof of our neighbours house. The space be- 
low us was that pertaining to the quadrupeds of 
the establishment, while the main floor, above 
described, was occupied by the bipeds. On look- 
ing around us, we at first felt a little scandaliz- 
ed at finding our host, the priest, surrounded by 
a number of squalid children with their mother. 
We were, however, ere long, relieved from our 
unpleasant impressions. Our inquiries ascer- 
tained the interesting fact that the Greek Ca- 
tholics, in Syria, who are nominally Christian 
Arabs, have never yielded the primitive right of 
marriage, and have a dispensation from the 
Pope, which sanctions this and other deviations 
from infallible Rome, in their creed and practice. 
A small fire was kindled in one corner of the 



THE PORTION OF ASIIER. 



165 



room, before which, at night, father, mother and 
children laid themselves down on the mud floor 
for repose. The troublesome European practice 
of undressing at night, is never entertained by 
the Arabs. Two or three of the family were 
ill with fever, and a more wretched scene we 
have rarely witnessed, and they were probably 
by far the best provided family in the village. 

Next to Tiberius, this place bears the palm 
for fleas ', as they effectually precluded sleep. The 
monotony of the night was a little enlivened by 
a nocturnal visit from the donkey, below us, to 
the fireside of the priest. Our elevated floor 
exempted us from the apprehension of a similar 
compliment from Johnny. 

This night among the Asherites left a vivid 
impression upon our memories. Such are the 
wretched fruits of Mohammedan rule and cor- 
rupted Christianity, in that land of promise — 
that portion of Asher, the natural advantages of 
which, under other influences, are well adapted 
to " yield royal dainties'*' to its dwellers. 

We have dwelt longer upon this detail than 
its importance would seem to require, that the 
reminiscence may admonish us and others of 
the value we should attach to the distinguished 
mercies we enjoy in this Protestant Christian 
land. 

Breakfasting at an early hour, we bade adieu 
to our host, the Greek priest of Bussah, to 



166 



THE POPwTTOX OF ASHER. 



whose sick and forlorn family we were sorry not 
to be able to administer the medical treatment 
they so much needed. 

We were on our horses at near eight o'clock, 
ready to prosecute our day's journey over the 
plain of Acra-wthis "portion of Asher," to 
I Mount Carmel. In the vicinity of Bussah we 
found many olive trees. As we advanced upon 
the plain, we saw patches of grain sprung up 
and green in many places, while here and there 
an Arab was engaged in ploughing or sowing 

o o loo o 

on other spots; the soil was dark and apparently 
productive, without, we suppose, any use of 
manure for the last thousand years at least. 
But a very small part of this fine plain is culti- 
vated at all, and we noticed but two or three 
miserable villages in its whole extent. 

On the left, the gently sloping hills of lower 
Galilee, which belonged to Xapthali and Ze- 
bulon, were green and comparatively beautiful. 
At the base of one of these hills we noticed a 
single standing colamii. As it was full two 
miles distant, we could not turn aside to ascer 
tain whether other ruins were around it. 

There can be no doubt, we think, that Ga^- 
lilee has always been the finest portion of Pales- 
tine. This is especially true, if we include in 
it the great central plain of Esdraelon. It ap- 
pears to have been very populous in our 
Saviour's time. Josephus gives a glowing 



THE PORTION OF ASHER. 



167 



picture of its fertility and populousness. " The 
soil.'' he says, "is universally rich and fruitful, 
and full of plantations of trees of all sorts, inso- 
much that it invites the most slothful to take 
pains in its cultivation by its fruitfulness: it is 
all cultivated by its inhabitants, and no part of 
it lies idle. Moreover, the cities lie here very 
thick, and the very many villages that are here 
are everywhere full of people, by the richness of 
the soil, that the very least of them contains 
above fifteen thousand inhabitants." B. W. 
3:3. Making very large allowances for exag- 
geration, as well we may, how blighted the scene 
we now behold! 

At half past nine o'clock, w ? e passed a large 
orange orchard on our right, richly loaded with 
its golden fruit. We often sigh for one of 
the delicious oranges of Palestine — truly " royal 
dainties." A little further on we passed the 
lone and fine mansion of a Pasha now in Con- 
stantinople. Another half hour brought us to an 
acqueduct, for the conveyance of water to Acra. 
The arches were of burned brick, some of them 
high and well constructed, We have noticed 
that one or more recent travellers have referred 
to this as a work of antiquity, though evidently 
a modern structure. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

ACRA AND CARMEL. 

Destitution of Harbours on the coast — -An argument opposed 
to a literal return of the Jews — A era in the distance: the 
most important seaport in Palestine: Accho its ancient 
name: change to Ptolemais: original name retained by 
the people — Old places identified — Paul at Ptolemais— 
Historic events: called St. Jean d'Acre by Crusaders: 
Vespasian and Titus there: taken by the Saracens: rescued 
by Richard Coeur d'Lion: the immense loss of life involved 
— Pdchard's treaty with Saladin — Siege by Napoleon — 
Acra defended by Sir Sidney Smith — Great loss of life 
by the French — Arrival at Acra: visits in the city — De- 
parture for Carmel — Bay of Acra — Eiver Belus: its sands 
first used in the manufacture of glass — Forded without 
difficulty — Ride along the Bay — Kiver Kishon— Forded 
in safety — Anchorage under Carmel — Kaifa — Carmelite 
Convent: richest monastery in Palestine. 

It is a fact worthy of note, that there is not 
one safe and good harbour on the entire coast 
of Syria and Palestine, south of Tripoli. The 
anchorage at Haifa, under the promontory of 
Carmel, is probably the most secure. Next to 
it, Beirut affords a tolerably good shelter for 
shipping. The Sirocco or winter winds, which 
blow from S. W. to N. E. are those which there 
bring storms, with peril and disaster to the 
mariner. 



ACRA AND CARMEL. 



Considering the tendencies of the Jews to 
commercial pursuits for long ages 5 this destitu- 
tion of harbours upon the coast of Palestine 
impressed us as one, among many other argu- 
ments, against the theory so fondly cherished by 
many, of a literal restoration of that wonderful 
people to the promised land. As things now 
are, we have a strong conviction that all attempts 
to bring about such a result, will prove in the 
end abortive. It is a happy circumstance, that 
the American Board, in their missionary efforts, 
have carefully avoided all entanglements of that 
kind, 

Some, we hope well-meaning people in this 
country, have recently embarked in an effort to 
engage the J ews in agricultural pursuits. The 
vicinity of the pools of Solomon, a little south of 
Bethlehem, has been selected as the spot to 
prosecute the undertaking. We hope their 
zeal, in the good cause of Christian missions, 
will not depend on the success of their present 
enterprise. 

Acra, in the distance of five or six miles, like 
most other Oriental towns, appears to its best 
and great advantage; the situation is a low, 
flattened promontory. Insecure as it is, the 
anchorage of Acra has been the most important 
seaport of Palestine, since the days of the 
Ptolemies, the first of whom adorned it; and in 
honour of him its name was changed from 



170 



AGRA AND CARTEL. 



Aceho, its Scripture name, Judg. 1: SI, to 
Ptolemais, by which it was known at the period 
of the Christian era. Like most other places 
in Palestine, which for a time gave place to 
Greek or Roman names, it is probable that it 
retained its original designation anions the 
common people. This circumstance has been 
the occasion of Drs. Robinson and Smith iden- 
tifying many interesting Scripture localities, the 
knowledge of which had been lost for a^es. 
Here Paul "came from Tyre, and saluted the 
brethren and abode one day," Acts, 21: 7. On 
reaching its immediate vicinity at eleven o'clock, 
A. M-3 we w r ere quite surprised to find its 
approach on the eastern or land side, still so well 
fortified, on principles of modem engineering. 

The historic events connected with Acra, are 
so interesting, we shall detain our readers while 
we recur to a few of the most remarkable of 
them. In Scripture, the notices of Acra are 
very rare. At the period of the Christian Era 
it was doubtless a place of very considerable im- 
portance. It has a prominent place in the 
account of the wars of the Maccabees, and sub- 
sequently in those of the Crusaders, by w T hom it 
was called St. Jean d'Acre. St. John has since 
that period been its tutelary saint. 

It appears from Judges 1: 31, that up to that 
period, the Asherites had. not driven out its orig- 
inal Phenician inhabitants. 



AGRA AND CARMEL. 



It was at Ptolemais that Vespasian was joined 
by his son Titus. Here they marshaled their 
cohorts and legions, for the conflicts that were 
to ensue, and which resulted in the utter ruin 
of the Jewish state, and sent the wretched rem- 
nant that escaped the sword, the famine and the 
pestilence, fugitives and captives abroad, through 
the Soman empire, to remain for long ages, 
" an astonishment, a proverb, a by- word among 
all nations whither the Lord shall lead' 5 them. 

Acra fell under the sway of the Saracens, A. 
D. 636. It was wrested from them by the first 
Crusaders, A. D. 1099. After the disastrous 
battle of Hattin on the fifth of July, A. D. 1187, 
it again submitted to the Saracens under Saladin, 
the intelligence of whose successes in Palestine 
aroused the powers of Western Europe to under- 
take the third Crusade, which was projected by 
Frederic Barbarossa, Emperor of Germany, 
Richard I, of England, and Philip Augustus of 
France. 

After many disasters in Greece, Frederic 
penetrated Asia Minor, as far as Cilicia, where 
he died. The armies of the Crusaders, in their 
progress toward Jerusalem, had reached Ptole- 
mais, where they encountered a formidable 
resistance. They environed the city many 
months without accomplishing its reduction, and 
were incessantly harassed by Saladin, who, with 
his wonted skill and courage, managed to succor 



172 



ACRA AND CARMEL. 



his troops within the walls. On the second of 
April, A. D. 1191, Philip Augustus, with a fresh 
army of French Crusaders, arrived before the 
city, and inspired fresh courage in the besiegers. 
He did not, however, affect its reduction until 
the arrival of the lion-hearted Richard, to whom 
was reserved the honour of its capture in the 
following July, soon after which, disease com- 
pelled Philip to return to France, leaving Richard 
in the sole command of the Crusaders. The 
sacrifice of blood and treasure which these 
Crusaders involved, appears almost incredible. 
In reference to the reduction of Ptolemais, 
Michaud remarks: " Such was the conclusion of 
this famous siege, which lasted nearly three 
years, and in which the Crusaders shed more 
blood, and exhibited more bravery, than ought 
to have sufficed for the subjugation of the whole 
of Asia. More than one hundred skirmishes, 
and nine great battles, were fought before the 
walls of the city. Several flourishing armies 
came to recruit armies nearly annihilated, and 
were in their turn replaced by fresh armies. 
The bravest nobility of Europe perished in this 
siege, swept away by the sword or disease.*" 

Other signal victories were secured by the 
prowess of Richard; but the following year, after 
penetrating to the very hills which overlook 
Jerusalem, finding his troops w r asted by famine 
and fatigue, and environed with difficulties, he 



ACRA AND CAR3IEL. 



concluded an honourable treaty with Saladin, 
securing to the Christian population the posses- 
sion of Acra, and some other seaport towns. 
This remarkable treaty was ratified for precisely 
three years, three months, three weeks, three 
days, and three hours, a mysterious number, the 
design of which is not well understood. It was 
from Acra, that Richard embarked, October, 
1192, on his disastrous voyage to Europe. The 
Mamaluke Sultan of Egypt took Acra, A. D. 
1291, and drove out its Christian population. 

Two incidents impart a peculiar interest to 
the English traveller as he visits " St. Jean d' 
Acre: 55 its capture by Richard Cceur-de-Lion, 
before referred to, A. D. 1191, and its defence 
conducted under the direction of Sir Sidney 
Smith, from the assaults of Napoleon. It was 
on the twenty-first of May, 1799, that the French 
army of the East, under Napoleon, raised the 
siege of Acra, after their trenches had been 
opened sixty-one days, and eight desperate 
assaults made. The French sustained a loss, 
variously estimated from three to seven thousand 
men. After raising the siege, Napoleon marched 
directly into Egypt, his plans of Eastern con- 
quest having been entirely frustrated. 

Leaving our baggage and muleteers outside, 
^ye entered the gate of the city and rode through 
it, examining hastily w r hat it has to be seen, in 
its Bazars and streets. The houses are mostly 



174: 



ACEA AND CARMEL. 



of stone; its streets are narrow, many of them 
covered arch-ways. The walls which surround 
the city on the water side, were in ruins, from 
the bombardment of the English fleet under 
Admiral Stopford, in November. • 1840, when 
the town was laid in ruins, and Palestine wrest- 
ed from the Egyptian sway of Mohammed Ali, 
and restored to the Sultan. 

After making our explorations within its 
walls, we left Acra a little before noon, and at 
the distance of half a mile from its gate we 
spread our cloth upon the sand, and ate our 
lunch under the shade of some young date palm 
trees, standing not far from the shore, and in full 

J o » 

view of Carmel, the day (January the third) 
being quite warm. 

At half-past twelve o'clock. P. Mi we again 
mounted our horses to pursue our journey. The 
Bay of Acra, formed by its promontory, and 
that of Carmel on its south, is about nine miles 
wide, and two or three in depth. We soon 
reached the river Belus, or Baal, which Xiebuhr 
thinks is that referred to in Joshua 19: 14, 27. 
Its Arabic name is Xahr Nam an* Its waters 
were anciently conducted by an acqueduct into 
Acra. The sands on its shore were celebrated 
in ancient times for their excellence in the 
manufacture of glass, the art of making which, 
it is said, was here discovered. The stream is 
rapid. We forded it without serious inconven- 



ACRA AND CARTEL. 



175 



ience at its junction with the bay, our Arab 
muleteers wading on before us, to guide our way 
along the sand-bar at its mouth. Our ride was 
now directly along the sandy shore of the bay, 
upon which were scattered the w 7 recks of several 
small vessels, driven upon it by Sirocco tem- 
pests. At three o'clock P. M. we reached the 
Kison, Judges, 5: 21, which here empties into 
the bay, quite under the shade of Carmel. The 
stirring events, sung by Deborah, doubtless 
occurred some fifteen miles or more east of this, 
on the plains of Esdraelon. 

We forded the river without being wet, or 
damaging our luggage, which w T as more than 

O o DO © ' 

most travellers can say. Our ladies were among 
the first to dash their steeds into the rapid 
stream, whose waters of old overwhelmed the 
fleeing hosts of Sisera. tJ The river of Kishon 
swept them away, that ancient river, the river 
Kishon." 

At three o'clock w r e reached and passed 
through the small walled town of Kaifa. Above 
the town, on the sides of Carmel, are the ruins 
of an old Crusaders' fortress. 

Vessels lie at anchor here under the lee of 
Carmel in comparative safety. The narrow- 
strip of the plain, on the southern side of the 
river, including this anchorage, probably per- 
tained to Zebulon. 

" Zebulon shall dwell at the haven of the sea; 



176 



ACRA AND CARMEL. 



and he shall be for an haven of ships," Gen. 49: 
18. We counted fifteen small square-rigged 
vessels or brigs at anchor before the town, as at 
this season no vessel can safely lie at Acra. The 
commerce of the country, which consists chiefly 
in grain and olive oil, is mainly in the hands of 
the Greek and French. 

At half-past four o'clock, P. M. we reached 
the fine convent of the Carmelite monks, situat- 
ed on the top of Oarmel, as it overhangs the 
Mediterranean, at the height of seven to eight 
hundred feet. The edifice is built of light 
yellowish-coloured sand-stone, and more resem- 
bles an imposing hotel, than any thing our eyes 
had beheld for weeks — quite a contrast to the 
humble apartment of the Greek priest of Bussah, 
w T hich we had left in the morning. This is one 
of the richest monasteries in Palestine, and right 
gladly did w r e dismount to enjoy its hospitalities 
for the night. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



ELIJAH AT OARMEL. 

Promontory of Mount Carmel-— Relations of Elijah — Char- 
acter of Elijah — The name of Carmel: now a naked ridge 
— Its extent and aspect — Carmelite Convent: view from 
its side: visit to its chapel, and Grotto of Elijah — Popular 
error respecting the slaying of the Prophets of Baal — A 
night in the Convent — Journey resumed — Splendid view 
from Carmel — Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon — Reach Kaifa: 
tombs in the vicinity — Ride under the side of Carmel — 
Cross the Kishon: width of its channel — Balmy atmos- 
phere — Plain covered with flowers Bedouin tents — 
Lunch on the Hills of Galilee — New scenes in view — 
Elijah and the Prophets of Baal — Plain of Esdraelon — 
" Battle of Mount Tabor" — Kleber and Napoleon — Jour- 
ney resumed — A company of mounted Bedouins — Perils 
escaped — Roughness of the ride — Arrival at Nazareth. 

The promontory of Carmel constitutes one 
of the impressive features in the topography of 
Palestine; it derives also a special interest from 
its connection with the history of Elijah, whose 
remarkable character as a man of prayer we 
find recorded in the Old, and referred to in the 
New Testament, for the instruction and en- 
couragement of God's people through all suc- 
ceeding ages. "Elias was a man subject to 

like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly 

M 



173 



ELIJAH AT CARMEL. 



that it might not rain; and it rained not on the 
earth, (or land, Palestine,) by the space of three 
years and six months. And he prayed again, 
and the heavens gave rain, and the earth 
brought forth her fruit. James 5: 17, 18. 

Another prominent trait in the character of 
Elijah, was moral courage, an illustrious example 
of which we find narrated in 1 Kings 18. 
There are few pages in the Old Testament 
more full of instruction, or adapted to awaken 
a deeper interest. In its perusal, who has not 
realized a kind of innate desire arising in his 
bosom to stand upon the ground w 7 here occurred 
that tragic scene, and climb to Camel's top 
and look over that sea, out of which arose that 
" little cloud as a man's hand," which betokened 
a termination of those years of drought which 
had spread dismay and famine over the land? 

The name of Carmel, we are told, indicates 
a country of vineyards and gardens; to what 
i aspect of it the prophet refers when he speaks of 
" the excellency of Carmel, 55 Isaiah, 35: 2, may 
be somewhat questionable. It means literally 
the vineyard of God; and as the divine name 
was often used for emphasis and eulogy, it seems 
to commend the place for its rich fertility, or 
scenic beauty in the golden age of Palestine. 

Its present appearance is that of a naked and 
somewhat rocky ridge, extending in a south-east 
direction from the Mediterranean until it sub- 



ELIJAH AT CAR MEL. 



179 



sides in the hills of Samaria. Its length we 
judged to be at least thirteen to fifteen miles; its 
height is probably nowhere over eleven or twelve 
thousand feet. To use a rather grovelling illus- 
tration, it is, as seen in the distance, a regular 
"hog's back," with its head in the south-east. The 
northern side is in part covered with scrub oaks. 

The ascent to the Carmelite Convent, which 
is situated upon its western extremity, is by an 
oblique road or pathway, up and down, which 
one can ride on horseback without difficulty. 
As before remarked, this convent is reputed the 
richest in Palestine, although it had but eight 
or ten monks residing within it. For their 
well-supplied tablej commodious apartments and 
good beds, furnished expressly for pilgrims like 
ourselves, we felt that we had substantial rea- 
sons to speak well of them. The early hour of 
our arrival there afforded us time to make our 
observations in the convent, and from its adjac- 
ent localities. 

From the high ground immediately south of 
the edifice, we enjoyed a magnificent view. The 
site of Cesarea is seen in the distance, and a 
wide extent of the Philistine plain. Among the 
rocks and over the surface we found the cyclo- 
men growing in abundance; and we there col- 
lected some of the bulbs, whose pert little 
flowers are now flourishing in our conservatory, 
pleasing mementoes of our visit. 



ISO 



ELIJAH AT CATttlEL. 



Returning to the convent, we were conducted 
by one of the brothers to the church or chapel, 
which is circular in its form. The covering to 
the altar is made of Persian silk, elegently em- 
broidered. Underneath the altar is a gotto, 
which, we were assured, was the veritable cave 
in which the prophet Elijah lived, and just as it 
was left hy him! An image, or statuette, about 
two feet high, of the prophet, in rather modern- 
ized costume, stands over the cave. Not only 
is this spot consecrated as the residence of 
Elijah, a kindred and more absurd tradition is 
that which points to its. near proximity on the 
narrow plain, at the base of the promontory, as 
the locality where Ahab convened the na- 
tion, at the suggestion of Elijah, to test the 
claims of the prophets of Baal, to which we 
have before referred. 

We have noticed with no little surprise, that 
a recent intelligent traveller, whose notes have 
been published, and also a writer in one of our 
most widely-circulated, popular magazines, have, 
in their accounts, followed this improbable tra- 
dition. 

The convent is moro than twenty miles dis- 
tant from Jezreel, probably twenty-five; and the 
appropriate location for that scene is doubtless 
to be looked for some ten miles or more east- 
ward from it, in the vicinity of the narrow arm 
of the plain, which connects the plains of Acra, 



ELIJAH AT CARMEL. 



181 



with the great central plain of Esdraelon, and 
which, under the shadow of Carmel, forms the 
outlet of the Kison into the lower plain. 

Apart from its greater convenience for the 
assemblage of the people, the simple fact stated, 
1 Kings 18: 44, 46, that at the close of the event- 
ful day. Elijah urged Ahab to hasten for shelter 
from the impending storm, and that the prophet j 
" girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to 
the entrance of Jezreel," would seern to satisfy 
any one who took the Bible for his guide-book, 
that tradition is here in conflict with its state- 
ments. 

Refreshed by our quiet night's repose, we 
rose at an early hour, breakfasted, and at a 
quarter before eight o'clock, were on our horses, 
ready to leave the convent, and pursue our day's 
journey to Nazareth. The sky above and around 
us, the sea and the landscape, as they met our 
eyes from this high and commanding spot, 
combined to form a scene of impressive beauty 
and grandeur* riveting our admiring gaze. The 
long line of coast, lost in the distant ether, the j 
beautiful bay at our feet, and wide plain once the 
rich " portion of Asher," stretching away north- 
ward to the white promontory of -Rais-en-Na- 
kura, on which we had stood two evenings 
before, with Acra about central between us and 
it, while far away in the distance beyond, the 
snowy tops of Lebanon and Anti- Lebanon, were 



182 



ELIJAH AT CARMEL. 



in the panorama, with the nearer hills and 
mountains of Galilee. Enchanting as was the 
scene, we were compelled to sink from its view, 
as we hastened down into the narrow plain, 
which borders the bay, and in which there is a 
venerable grove of olive trees. At half-past eight 
o'clock we again reached Kaifa, and passed 
through its walls, and over the Turkish burying- 
ground on its eastern side. In the sides of the 
cliff, which here forms the base of Oarmel, we 
noticed many openings, which formed the en- 
trance to ancient tombs, which we had not so 
particularly observed as we passed them the pre- 
vious evening. Proceeding a little farther on, 
there is a considerable grove of date palm-trees 
near the mouth of the Kison. In a quarter of 
an hour more, we left the shores of the bay, keep- 
ing on the southern side of the river, our course 
of travel being nearly east, and for some distance 
near the base of the mountain. At a quarter 
before ten, we passed the small village of Belad- 
esh-Shurky, situated on the side of Oarmel, near- 
ly down to the plain. This is the only village we 
saw after leaving Kaifa, on the northern side of 
Oarmel. Herds of black goats frequently met 
our eye. 

At half-past ten o'clock, we crossed the Kison, 
here running, in the now contracted plain, about 
a quarter of a mile distant from the Oarmel 
range. The river runs in a deep channel, vary- 



ELIJAH AT CARMEL. 



183 



ing from fifteen to twenty-five feet in width. We 
forded the stream without difficulty. After 
heavy rains, its banks are doubtless full and its 
passage dangerous, Judges, 5: 21, as it forms 
the drainage of the western half of the Esdrae- 
lon plain. 

In addition to the balmy atmosphere of the 
morning, (January 4, ) our senses were regaled 
with the sight and fragrance of the blooming 
narcissa, the flowers of which clothed the plain; 
while the hill sides were brilliant with various 
coloured ranunculus. Soon after crossing the 
river we began our ascent of the gently-rising 
hills of Galilee. At half-past eleven, A. M., we 
were passing up the TVady.el Melek. On the 
sides of the hills we noticed a fine growth of oak 
scattered. On our right, we saw for the first 
time the dark curtains of a Bedouin tent. At 
noon, we reached the summit of the hills, and 
rested under a fine spread oak to lunch. Here 
new scenes of sacred interest burst upon our 
view, the impression of which remains vivid and 
delightful in the reminiscence. The panorama 
around awoke the spontaneous wish, " that 
other, and far distant friends were with us to en- 
joy the sight.'' In the west, the Mediterranean, 
with Acra and its plain; in the east, portions of 
the great plain of Esdraelon — Tabor, the lesser 
Hermon, and the mountains of Gilboa, rising 
above it; and near at hand on the south, the cen- 



184 



ELIJAH AT CAB.MEL. 



tral portion of Carmel. Near to this spot, we 
have no doubt, it was that Elijah addressed the 
congregated and apostate Israelites, in language 
of keen expostulation, 64 How long halt ye be- 
tween two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow 
him; but if Baal, then follow him. And the 
people answered him not a word." There the 
prophets of Baal and the prophets of the groves 
were confounded before the people, and met with 
a dire retribution of their sins. "And Elijah 
said unto them, 6 Take the prophets of Baal; let 
not one of them escape. 9 And they took them; 
and Elijah brought them down to the brook 
Kishon, and slew them there." 1 Kings, 18: 40. 

The scenes of our morning's ride had brought 
vividly to our view the character of God's an- 
cient prophet, inciting us to raise our hearts to 
the " Lord God of Elijah," that he would im- 
press upon us some more influential lineaments 
of Elijah's zeal, courage and prayer. 

At one o'clock, P. M. ? we resumed our jour- 
ney, and descended into an arm of the plain of 
Esdraelon. In forty minutes we reached and 
passed the village of Jeida. At two, P. M., we 
left the plain and passed the village of Simonides. 

The famous battle of Mount Tabor was fought 
on the plain, beyond this, on the 16th of April, 
1799. Six or eight miles west of Tabor, Kle- 
ber with three thousand men, withstood for se- 
ven hours the assaults of the Turkish army with 



ELIJAH AT CARMEL. 



185 



thirty thousand foot, and twelve thousand horse- 
men, when Napoleon, at the head of five thous- 
and men, descended from the hills of Galilee to his 
rescue, and utterly exterminated the Turkish 
army. Four thousand camels, and an immense 
camp booty, were secured to the French army. 

Our course of travels was now over a range 
of very barren and rocky hills, in one of the nar- 
row gorges of which we were a little disturbed 
by meeting a company of Bedouins, the first w r e 
had seen. They were mounted, each having a 
long spear in addition to other arms. Our mule- 
teers and baggage were a short distance in our 
rear, and we deemed it prudent to wheel about 
to watch their actions. As they came up, they 
stopped-, and seemed to cast a wistful eye there- 
to. We escaped, however, without molestation. 
In another hour we reached the summit of a very 
difficult hill to ascend. Here we had a fine 
view of the Mediterranean and other scenes of 
interest. Descending from this hill by a rough 
pathway, we had the villages of Keibeh and El 
Mujeidel on our south. At four, P. M., we 
reached the high hill which on the west over- 
hangs the village of Nazareth, which was situ- 
ated in a kind of amphitheatre below us. By a 
long and steep pathway we descended the hill, 
and at half-past four o'clock safely reached the 
Convent of Nazareth, in a building attached to 
which we found excellent accommodations. 



CHAPTER XIX 



NAZARETH AND C A N A. 

Nazareth invested with peculiar interest — The annunciation 
to Mary — The Empress Helena — Visit to Palestine — 
Erected churches over sacred places — Description of Xaz- 
areth — Daguerreotype view — Accommodations for travel- 
lers — Convent and Church of the Annunciation — Yisit to 
the Grotto— The Lorelto chapel — Transported by angels — 
The legend related — Frauds of Popery — Walk to the 
ancient " Fountain of the Virgin" — Large water-jars of 
the women — Night in the village — Journey to Tiberias — 
Cana of Galilee— Women at the Fountain — The site dis- 
puted by Dr. Robinson — Sight of Tabor — Fine valley — 
Ard-el-Hamma — Lunch upon battle-ground of the Crusa- 
ders—The reputed " true cross " taken by the Saracens — 
Disastrous results to the Crusaders — Journey resumed — 
Pass Tell Hattin — View of the Lake of Tiberias — Miracle 
of feeding the five thousand — Safed in view— Impending 
storm — Arrival at Tiberias. 

It is not surprising that the very name of 
Nazareth is invested with an interest to the in- 
telligent Christian, which attaches to few other 
places on earth's surface. Our veneration for 
its locality need not conduct us into the vagaries 
which superstition or fraud have imposed upon 
the ignorant and the credulous. The fact is 
most authentic and scriptural, that it was to 
this * despised place," Nazareth, that one of 



NAZARETH AND CAN A. 



187 



Heaven's highest orders of intelligence was 
despatched, there to announce to an obscure and 
lowly virgin, a message on the accomplishment 
of which a world's eternal destiny was suspend- 
ed. " Highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: 
blessed art thou among women. 3 ' All unknown 
to earth's potentates, she was soon to bring forth 
a son, whose name was dictated from heaven to 
be called " Jesus;" or, JosnUA, that is, the sal- 
vation of Jehovah, to whom the Lord God should 
give the throne of his father David, and he 
should reign over the house of Jacob forever; 
and of his kingdom there shall be no end. That 
these surrounding hills on which we gazed, that 
this little secluded valley in which we rested, 
the general aspect of which remains unchanged 
by the lapse of ages, had been so often, and so 
long traversed by the footsteps of the Son of 
Man, were considerations which will here im- 
press every Christian traveller. 

Its convent, with its grotto and other tradi- 
tionally sacred places, have long commanded 
the devout veneration of pilgrims. To those, 
we attached but little importance. The general 
topography of the region, was what most chal- 
lenged our attention. 

Tradition as well as history ascribes to the 
Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine, the 
honour of searching out sacred localities, and 
erecting Christian churches and chapels upon 



ISS 



NAZARETH AXD CAXA. 



several of them. She doubtless visited Pales- 
tine at an advanced age, and her pious efforts to 
honour Christianity, laid the foundation for much 
of the traditional rubbish which has here accum- 
ulated, in the progress of subsequent ages. The 
Church of the Annunciation, which is within 
the convent here, is said to have been originally 
one of the numerous fruits of her zeal. The 
establishment of convents for the various religious 
orders, was the fruit of their rivalries, and the 
multiplicity of pilgrimages to the Holy Land, 
between the fourth and twelfth centuries. 

Nazareth, as it now exists, is situated in a 
narrow basin of about a mile in length, sur- 
rounded by hills, the town being built upon the 
steep side of those that border the valley on the 
w T est. Below, and east of the village, there is 
a small plain, or comparatively level place, on 
which is a grove of olive and fig trees. The 
basin is about eight hundred feet above the 
Mediterranean. Some of the hills around it, 
particularly the western, are probably fifteen to 
sixteen hundred feet above the sea. The houses 
of the village are generally built of stone, one 
story high, flat roofed, and in the general aspect 
of the place, presenting an agreeable contrast to 
most of the miserable villages we had seen since 
we entered Palestine. There is a Mosque here 
with quite an imposing minaret. The number 
of inhabitants is variously estimated from three 



NAZARETH AND CANA. 



1S9 



to five thousand, a large portion of them being 
nominally Christian. We have a fine daguerreo- 
type view of Nazareth, with its western hills, 
taken from a point in the valley a short distance 
east of the village, by an artist, subsequent to 
our visit there. We regret that circumstances 
prevent our presenting a copy of it to the eye of 
our readers, upon these pages. 

In near proximity to the Franciscan or Latin 
convent, is a large building erected by the monks 
expressly for the accommodation of pilgrims. 
Here we found excellent quarters. After ad- 
justing our luggage, notwithstanding the fatigues 
of our day's journey, we went forth to make our 
explorations. Crossing the space between our 
quarters and the castle-like walls of the convent, 
we entered the gate, and proceeded to the chapel, 
or Church of the Annunciation, which we found 
somewhat gorgeously decorated. Under the 
altar is the famous grotto, to which we descend- 
ed by a few steps. The monk who conducted 
us through the various apartments, now assured 
us that we were upon the very spot where the 
Virgin Mary sat, when the angel Gabriel 
appeared unto her, and said " Hail, highly 
favoured, the Lord is with thee. 5 ' On our left 
was a broken column, suspended by the roof or 
flooring above, but said to be miraculously 
attached, having been broken off at the bottom 
when the angel entered the apartment. He 



190 



NAZARETH AND CASTA. 



opened a closet door, and told us the window 
through which the angel entered was there. 
Passing now at the right around a kind of altar 
screen, to an apartment immediately back of 
this, you are assured that you are now in the 
work-shop of Joseph. From this we were con- 
ducted by a long subterranean passage and by a 
flight of steps to a cave, in which we were in- 
formed the holy family liyed: we understood him 
to say, subsequent to the return from Egypt. 

The original house, which was over or adjoin- 
ing upon the grotto, the famed "Loretto Chapel" 
is reported to have lasted in its original state, 
until the Empress Helena enclosed it within her 
splendid church, and so remained until the year 
1291, when to preserve it from the destruction, 
or desecration of the Mohammedan Sultan of 
Egypt, it was by angels transported, first to 
Dalmatia, and thence to Loretto, in Italy, atown 
not far from Ancona. 

The traditionary legend represents that the 
Celestial Cohort landed the sacred habitation on 
the Italian shores of the Adriatic, where it be- 
came the occasion of strife between two brothers, 
which ended in the death of one of them. After 
this tragic event, the angels resumed their 
labours, and conveyed it to the grounds of an 
old lady name Leuretta, from whom it derived 
its name, where it found a resting place. Its 
fame ere long converted a forest into a city. 



NAZARETH AND CANA. 101 

This fraud of Popery upon the credulity and 
superstition of its votaries, proved for a long 
period an abundant source of revenue; one hun- 
dred thousand persons were computed to have 
annually paid religious visits to Loretto. The 
belief of the fable is still retained, as a part of 
the infallible and unchanging system of 
Romanism. 

They have an exact copy, within and without, 
of this c; santissima casa' at Prague, w T hich we 
had seen when we were there. In our just in- 
dignation at such " pious frauds, 51 and at the 
idolatrous homage to the Virgin, and her image, 
which obtrudes itself upon our notice in all 
Popish countries, we are in danger of losing 
that veneration for the character of Mary to 
which it is properly entitled. 

Leaving the convent, we now, with more 
satisfaction, walked about the third of a mile 
northward, down the valley to the "Fountain of 
the Virgin," as it is termed* Here, the women, 
as of old, repair with their large earthen jars 
for water. We could not doubt that a spectacle, 
nearly the same in all its features, w r as daily 
there seen eighteen hundred years before, when, 
with others, the blessed Mary here repaired with 
her water jar, to secure a supply for the necessi- 
ties of her family. These jars are estimated to 
contain from four to eight gallons of w^ater. 
While the ladies of our party could hardly raise 



192 



NAZARETH &NT> CAXA. 



the largest of the jars from the ground when 
filled, we were quite astonished to behold how 
skilfully these Arab women managed to elevate 
them to their shoulder, or to the top of their 
heads, and bear the heavy burden away in safety 
to the village. 

The top of our apartments afforded us an ex- 
cellent view of the village. In the early part 
of the evening nearly every house had a light, 
caused by the fire on its floor glimmering through 
the opening of the door. Situated, as they were, 
above and around us, the appearance was novel 
and interesting. But for the numerous dogs 
which infest the place, we should have enjoyed 
a quiet night's rest; for noise and quarrelsome- 
ness, we judge the dogs of Nazareth remain un- 
rivalled. 

Rising at an early hour the following morn- 
ing, we were upon our horses at a quarter before 
eight o'clock, ready to commence our excursion 
to Tiberias. Our road took us again directly 
past the Fountain of the Virgin, which we 
stopped to examine, as there was now less crowd 
around it than we had found on the previous 
evening. The water is conveyed into a small 
stone reservoir. The stream discharged, as near 
as we could judge, about two gallons a minute. 
Ascending the hill, north-eastward of the 
village, we passed along a deep and precipitous 
gorge. After reaching the summit of this hill, 



NAZARETH AND CAN A. 



193 



we descended eastward, along a steep and ex- 
ceedingly rocky pathway, to a small valley, in. 
which is the large village of Er-Reineh. Other 
rocky hills were passed, and at nine o'clock w r e 
reached the little village of Kefr Kenna, which 
has generally been regarded as the Cana of 
Galilee, John 2: 1, where " w r as a marriage, and 
the mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus 
was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. " 

Before w r e reached the village, we passed the 
fountain that supplies it with water; at which 
women were engaged in washing garments, by 
beating them upon a smooth stone with a flat 
stick, which seems to have been a primitive 
mode of washing. TVe have seen the same 
process by the African in the West Indies. 
Other women w T ere at the fountain, with their 
" large earthen water jars or firkins" for w 7 ater 
for domestic use. Here we opened our Bibles 
and read the second chapter of John's Gospel. 
The incidents it records, were strikingly illus- 
trated by these water jars, which the women 
were bearing away upon their heads to their 
homes. The village is composed of low mud 
hovels, surrounded with filth; it is situated upon 
the north-east side of a small hill, having a little 
valley on its north-west, in which is a grove of 
orange, fig, and olive trees, the whole overlooked 
by high and rocky hills. The proximity of the 

village to Nazareth, and being on the direct 

N 



194 



NAZARETH AND CASTA. 



route to Tiberias, seems much to favour the 
tradition of this being the true location of the 
Cana of Galilee. Dr. Robinson, however, 
whose authority is not lightly to be disputed, 
adduces reasons against its claims to that 
honour. He regards Kana-el- Jelil, a village 
some miles north of this, as the true location 
for the Cana of John. 

At half-past ten o'clock we had the top of 
Tabor in sight, on our right, some four or five 
miles distant. In half an hour more we were 
upon an elevation which commanded a view of 
the high table land east of the Lake of Tiberias, 
having before us on our right a very beautiful 
plain, falling off rapidly to the south — the Ard 
el Hamma. 

At twelve o'clock, M., we rested to lunch 
upon or in the immediate vicinity of the fatal 
battle-ground of the Crusaders with Saladin, 
which occurred upon the fourth and fifth days 
of July, A. D. 1187. 

The famed "true cross," which the supersti- 
tion of ages had regarded as having been 
miraculously recovered by the Empress Helena, 
here fell into the hands of the Saracens. It 
had been brought to the camp of the Crusaders, 
to animate them in the desperate conflict; the 
sacred standard w r as borne by the Bishop of 
Ptolemais, who was killed in the heat of the 
battle. The Bishop of Lidda took it from the 



NAZARETH AND CAN A. 



195 



hand of the expiring prelate, and endeavoured 
to escape; but was arrested in his attempted 
flight. Dismay seized the Crusaders, when 
they discovered their talismanic banner in the 
hands of the Saracens. Prodigies of valour 
were said to have been performed by the Knights 
of the Temple and St. J ohn, in this ill-concerted 
battle, the results of which annihilated the 
power of the Crusaders in Palestine. 

At half-past twelve o'clock we resumed our 
journey. We noticed in this vicinity many dry 
pits or cisterns. The village of El-Lubieh we 
passed on our left. At one, P. M., we passed 
Tell Hattin, or the Hill of Hattin, and now 
came in view of the northern portion of the 
Lake of Tiberias. The Hill of Hattin is re- 
garded by the Latin Church as the spot where 
our Saviour delivered the sermon on the Mount. 
We were now on the hill side, having the deep 
valley of Hattin descending northward before 
us. Upon the ground along which we were 
now riding, tradition locates the miracle of the 
feeding of the five thousand with the five loaves. 
From this point, and a little farther on, the 
view is very beautiful, Safed, situated upon 
the gently-rising but high hill, north of the 
Lake, may well be supposed to occupy the site 
of the city referred to Matthew, 5: 14: " A city 
i that is set on a hill cannot be hid." A quarter 
I of an hour further on, the whole lake came into 

L__ 



196 



KAZARETH AND CANA. 



our view, excepting a small portion at its south- 
ern extremity, where it empties into the Jordan^ 
which w T as hid by a low ridge adjoining it. The 
hill upon which we stood, which overhung the 
lake on the west, must be more than fifteen 
hundred feet high above it. The town of Ti- 
berias, as seen from this mountain height, has 
been aptly said to resemble a large brick-yard. 

Indications of an impending storm now in,- 
duced us to urge our steeds down the steep and 
rocky mountain sides with all possible speed; 
and ere we reached the dilapidated and shaken 
walls of the town, the rain began to descend 
upon us. At two, P. M., we dismounted at the 
door of one of the largest houses of the town, 
occupied by a Jew — to which we affix the 
sobriquet " the Hotel of Tiberias" 



CHAPTEE XX. 



TIBERIAS AND ITS LAKE, 

Period of present town— Kuined "Walls— Earthquake — Mis- 
erable Houses- -Bazaars with ancient columns — Church of 
St. Peter — The Lake — Its extent — Surface below the Medi- 
terranean — Depth ascertained by Lt. Lynch — Gloom 
around — No boat upon its waters — Storm — Hotel Accom- 
modations — Annoyances at Xight — Storm abating in the 
morning — Collating Scripture — Visit to Church of St. 
Peter — Yiew from the house top — The storm upon the 
Lakes — Aspect of its Eastern Scenery — " City set upon a 
Hill" — Tiberias of the Xew Testament — Built by Herod 
Antipas — Josephus' Account — Explorations — Site of the 
City — An Ancient Colonnade — Hot Springs and Bath 
Houses — Entrance of Ancient Tombs — Discovery of a 
Euined Temple — Another night in Tiberias. 

The Tiberias of the present day is a misera- 
ble village. It probably dates back to the pe- 
riod of the first Crusade. Its walls and once 
imposing castle present a scene of utter ruin, 
having been shaken to their very foundations, 
and in many places entirely prostrated, by the 
earthquake of January 1st, 1S37, by which it 
was computed that seven hundred persons lost 
their lives. 

With but two or three exceptions, the houses 
are low stone hovels, about ten feet high, with 



198 



TIBERIAS AND ITS LAKE. 



flat roofs, which, as usual, are covered with mud 
mixed with straw, and rolled hard with a stone 
roller, to shed the rain. The streets, or more 
properly alleys, are very narrow, winding 
round among the houses, and full of filth and 
mud. 

The small bazaar is in keeping with other 
parts of the city, with the exception that the 
shops are in part supported by rows of old 
broken granite columns about ten inches in 
diameter, some of them with their capitals; they 
were doubtless gathered from the ruins of the 
ancient city. The Mohammedan population 
have a Mosque with minaret; the Christian, the 
small church of St* Peter. The castle is on the 
northern side of the town, on ground which 
rises abruptly from the lake. This abrupt 
I and still more elevated ridge extends along the 
shore northward for two miles, when you reach 
a narrow plain, on which, probably, once stood 
Magdala. The Lake of Tiberias lies between 
forty and fifty miles east from Acra. It is 
situated in a deep depression, its surface having 
been ascertained to be eighty- four feet below the 
Mediterranean; it is generally estimated to be 
eleven or twelve miles in length from north to 
south, and from five to seven miles wide at its 
greatest breadth. 

According to Lieut. Lynch, its greatest 
ascertained depth is one hundred and sixty- five 



TIBERIAS AND ITS LAKE. 199 

feet. It is supported by the waters of the 
Upper Jordan, which enters in at its north- 
eastern angle. The lake forms a beautiful 
basin of clear water; but the utter nakedness of 
the scenery, and death-like stillness that reigns 
around this once populous region, shed over the 
scene a mournful gloom. It is the Chinnereth 
of Num. 34: 11, and Josh. 11: 2. In Matt. 
4: 18, and Mark 1: 16, it is called "the sea of 
Galilee;" Luke 5: 1, 54 the Lake of Gennesaret;" 
John 6: 23, " the sea of Tiberias." In answer 
to our inquiries, we found that there was not a 
single boat upon the lake! 

The early hour of our arrival at Tiberias 
would have afforded ample time for us to have 
made many interesting explorations in its vicin- 
ity, but the torrents of rain that descended im- 
prisoned us as closely for the whole afternoon 
and night as Noah in the Ark, and with little 
more facility for observation without. Our 
quarters had, indeed, the advantage of being a 
second story; but, without glass, we were screened 
as effectually from the light of day as its rude 
wooden shutters could effect. Our party of 
five might have had little cause to complain, as 
our room was comparatively spacious, and fur- 
nished with a wide-cushioned divan on three 
sides, in true Oriental style; but, in addition to 
the tempest without, the fowls of our host had 
taken refuge on a convenient roosting- place over 



200 



TIBERIAS kSB ITS LAKE. 



our heads, and, worse than the dogs of Nazareth, 
kept up an incessant crowing; add to which, 
like other sojourners here, we were importunately 
called upon to verify the truth of the old tradi- 
tion, " that the king of fleas here holds his 
court." 

With the morning sun the storm abated, and 
the clear blue sky occasionally appeared above 
the rapidly-flying clouds, At nine o'clock we 
breakfasted, fish from the lake forming a part 
of the repast . We found them very delicate, but 
filled with exceedingly short, thick bones. 
There are several varieties of fish found here, 
some of which are spoken of as very good. 
After disposing of our breakfast, as the storm 
continued, we occupied nearly three hours in 
collating and reading those portions of the Gos- 
pels which narrate incidents in our Lord's life 
that occurred on and adjacent to these waters. 
We were surprised with their number, and with 
the relations which this beautiful little lake and 
its surrounding hill-sides have to the Gospel 
history. Any one who will sit down with the 
same object, must arise from the review with 
the like conviction. 

At twele o'clock, M., the storm had so far 
subsided that we went to the Latin church of 
St. Peter, which stands not far from the shore, on 
the spot that tradition has pointed out as the 
place where the miraculous draught of fishes 



TIBERIAS AND ITS LAKE. 



201 



was drawn to the shore, when Jesus here ap- 
peared unto the apostles after his resurrection — 
John, 21. The access to the church was 
through a narrow and dirty passage. The 
edifice is a simple arch-roofed building, with 
thick walls, about fifty feet long, twenty-five feet 
wide, and twenty high, resembling more a 
granary than a church. One side of the in- 
terior was mainly occupied with grain, winch 
lay in considerable quantities on the floor. From 
the top of a connected building we had an ex- 
cellent view of the lake. 

Returning to our quarters, we lunched at one 
o'clock P. M., after which w r e repaired to the 
flat- roofed top of our house by a flight of stairs 
on the outside — Luke, 5: 19. The waters of 
the lake presented a light green appearance 
under the bright rays of the sun, now emerged 
from the clouds of the just passing shower; the 
w r aves were dashing in considerable fury. We 
saw enough to show us that before a Sirocco 
tempest the disciples might w r ell be filled with 
dismay as they were tossed upon these waters 
in their frail bark— Matt, 8: 24. Directly be- 
fore us lay the lake, in nearly its whole extent; 
its widest and larger part being north of us. 
Here it was about five miles to its eastern shore, 
on which side of it, two wadies or gorges break 
down from the high and mountainous table- 
land to the water. Nearly opposite is one of 



202 TIBERIAS AND ITS LAKE. 

them, the Wady el Semak, above which the 
ranges of hills, eight hundred to a thousand feet 
above the lake, gradually recede from the shore, 
and so continue to its northern extremity, where 
it spreads out, at its north-eastern angle, to a 
verdant little plain, through which the Upper 
Jordan enters the lake. The hill, a few miles 
north of the lake, on which is the village of 
Safed, rises conspicuous, to the height of two 
thousand five hundred feet. "A city set upon 
such a hill cannot be hid" from any portion of 
the surrounding region. The hills which bor- 
der the eastern side of the lake, south of Tiberias, 
are still higher and more abrupt than those on 
the more northern portion. They form a high 
table-land, running off to the south, receding 
from the shore at the lower extremity of the 
lake 5 along which there is a plain of small ex- 
tent. 

We have remarked that the Tiberias of the 
present day dates back to the period of the 
Crusaders. There is conclusive evidence that 
the ancient city was mainly located from one to 
two miles south of the present village. 

The city was originally built by Herod 
Antipas. On the death of his father, Herod the 
Great, the Emperor Tiberias so far confirmed 
his will as to instate his son Antipas in the 
government of a part of Galilee. Josephus 
tells us, "Now Herod the Tetrarch, who was in 



TIBERIAS AKD ITS LAKE. 203 

great favour with Tiberias, built a city of the 
same name with him, and called it Tiberias. 
He built it in the best part of Galilee, at the 
Lake Gennesareth. 

" There are warm baths a little distance from 
it, in a village called Emmaus, (hot baths.) 
Strangers came and inhabited this city. A 
great number of the inhabitants were Gallileans 
also; and many were necessitated by Herod to 
come thither out of the country belonging to 
him, and were by force compelled to be its in- 
habitants. Some of them were persons of con- 
dition. 55 — Ant. B. 18, ch. 2. 

At a later hour in the afternoon, we emerged 
from our imprisonment to explore the region 
around this part of the lake. Passing out over 
the prostrated wall on the south side of the 
town, we first came upon an extensive Jewish 
burialrground, the graves in which are indicated 
by flat stones, with Hebrew inscriptions. Ti- 
berias has long been a favoured abode of the 
Jew. The mountainous hills which border the 
lake here recede from it, and again spur down 
to the water about two miles south of the village, 
forming a plain somewhat in the form of a 
crescent. Upon the top of one of these eleva- 
tions there is a ruined fortress, which would 
appear to have been the Acropolis of the ancient 
city. In the sides of two of these high cliffs 
there are numerous openings of tombs excavated 



204: TIBERIAS AND ITS LAKE. 

within them, which belong, doubtless, to the 
Jewish period. 

Pursuing the shore of the Lake southward, 
in its vicinity, we passed numerous granite 
columns, showing the existence of former mag- 
nificent edifices. It seems quite probable that 
an extensive colonnade once adorned the mar- 
gin of the lake, not unlike to that erected by 
Herod the Great at Samaria in honour of 
Augustus, and which Antipas may have here 
attempted to rival, in honour of his patron 
Tiberias. At the distance of a mile and a half 
south of the town, we came to the hot springs 
and bath-houses — the Emmaus of Josephus. 
The water is very hot — over 140° F. — bitter, 
and salt, like the water of the Dead Sea. There 
are two bath-houses here, the more recent of 
which is quite an imposing circular building, 
said to have been erected by Ibrahim Pasha, 
during the Egyptian rule in Syria. 

That these springs existed, and were much 
resorted to at the period of the Gospel histories, 
there can be no doubt; and it struck us as re- 
markable, that no allusion is made to them by 
the Evangelists. 

The lateness of the hour forbade our follow- 
ing the lake quite down to the Jordan, which 
we much regretted. On our return, at a little 
distance to the north-west of the baths, we 
entered two of the old tombs, before referred 



TIBERIAS AM) ITS LAKE. 



205 



to, high up in the hill side, one of which 
had six compartments leading from the vesti- 
bule. 

More central, in the plain, we noticed the 
foundations of numerous edifices. Leading 
from spurs of the mountains directly down to 
the lake were also the foundations of two walls. 
At the distance of about a mile and a half from 
the village, we came upon four fine granite 
columns; and one-third of a mile further north, 
we found twenty-one granite columns, some of 
them standing in their places. They are about 
twenty inches in diameter, and so spread about 
as clearly to indicate that they once formed 
part of a long-since ruined temple of two hun- 
dred feet from east to west, and one hundred 
feet wide. At its eastern extremity we dis- 
covered a stone altar, about four feet square, 
the mouldings chiseled on its base and top re- 
maining quite perfect. We inferred that it be- 
longed to the Roman period. 

That the surface of the lake has never risen 
much, if any, above its present average rise, is 
obvious from the site of the early city, as well 
as that of the positions of the columns on its 
margin, to which we have referred. As the 
principal part of the waters of the Lower Jordan 
are received from this lake, this fact has an im- 
portant bearing to confirm our position in re- 
gard to the annual overflow of the Jordan, which 



206 



TIBERIAS AND ITS LAKE. 



our readers will find the topic of a subsequent 
chapter. 

After another night passed amid the annoy- 
ances of Tiberias, at an early hour we were upon 
our horses, to return to Nazareth by the way of 
Mount Tabor, 



CHAPTEE XXL 

MOUNT TABOR. 

Departure from Tiberias — Eide along the Lake shore — Dil- 
apidated Walls — Ascent of the western Hills — Yiew of the 
Lake — Sites of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum un- 
known — Reflections— Tell Hattin the Mount of Beati- 
tudes — Old Caravan Track — Khan El-Tujjar — An Arab 
Fair — Bedouin encampment — Arrival at Mount Tabor: its 
partial ascent — Mount of Transfiguration — Objections of 
Dr. Robinson not satisfactory — Reasons assigned — Lunch 
upon the Mountainside — Return to ISTazareth. 

The few date palm-trees seen on the ground 
in front of the castle, and one or two others in 
the village, is all that Tiberias possesses, to im- 
part cheerfulness to the eye of the traveller; and 
we left it with few personal regrets. Passing 
through its southern gate, we rode a short dis- 
tance along the shore of the lake, and then turn- 
ed from its view, to prosecute, under a bright sky, 
our day's journey. We noticed a volcanic ap- 
pearance in the rocks around the vicinity, as we 
passed up the small valley on the rear or west 
of the dilapidated walls of the town, and mounted 
to the top of the western hills, by the same steep 
path which we had descended two days before. 



208 MOUNT TABOR. 

As we proceeded, we enjoyed a splendid view of 
the lake and adjacent country. Below us, on 
the northern end of the lake, was spread out the 
small plain of Gennesareth, Near at hand, 
once flourished Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Caper- 
naum, Matthew 11: 21, and Luke 10: 13 x ex- 
alted to heaven in their privileges^ from the 
personal teaching of the Son of Man; but for re- 
jected and abused mercies, long since utterly 
blotted from the view of men, so that the exact 
locality they once occupied cannot be identified. 
Tyre and Sidon, less favoured and less guilty, 
still survive the disasters of ages, and retain a 
name and place on the map of human existence 
and activity. Each a beacon of warning to us, 
in this yet more privileged age and land. 

At half- past eight o'clock, A. M.. we had lost 
sight of the walls and castle of Tiberias. In 
half an hour more, we reached the summit of the 
mountain, still overlooking, in our progress, the 
northern extremity of the lake. We soon ap- 
proached, and again passed ocl our left, Tell 
Hattin, or the hill of Hattin, the traditional 
mountain on which was delivered " the Sermon 
on the mount." Oh! how greatly do the 
wretched dwellers on these hills and mountain 
sides need to be taught afresh those lessons of 
wisdom, love and purity, which were by the 
Saviour here announced eighteen hundred years 
ago. We here again trod on the battle ground 



MOUNT TABOR. 



209 



of the Crusaders, on the disastrous fifth of July, 
1187. 

At ten o'clock we met the old caravan track 
leading from Damascus to Egypt, which has 
probably been trodden since the days of Abra- 
ham. Leaving Lubieh on our right, and having 
the beautiful plain of Ard El-Hamma on our left, 
we descended southerly over an exceedingly 
stony and rough tract toward Mount Tabor. 

At eleven, we arrived at the Khan El Tujjar, 
where we were much interested in finding a large 
assemblage of Arabs, from all the villages for 
miles around, who were here holding a kind of 
fair. The articles exhibited for sale were spread 
upon the ground, consisting chiefly of common 
articles of cotton cloths of European manufac- 
ture, shoes, slippers, and some very ordinary 
raisins, figs, and other merchandise. We could 
hardly conceive of a more wild assemblage of 
men, women and children, horses and camels. 
As we rode around among the promiscuous 
throng, the ladies of our party excited no little of 
their curiosity. 

The old Khan presents a castle-like appear- 
ance; and from it the northern side of Tabor is 
full in view. We left the novel scene, pleased 
that this aspect of Arab life had come under our 
observation. Soon after leaving the Khan, we 
came upon an extensive Bedouin encampment. 
Their ferocious dogs were disposed to attack, if 

o 



210 



MOUNT TABOR. 



their masters left us unmolested. Their primi- 
tive looking tents are formed by extending a 
long piece of black goat's hair-cloth over rude 
sticks or bushes, with the side open, or fully ex- 
posed toward the south-east, in the winter seas- 
on. Under this rude shelter they and their 
flocks are gathered at night, and here are ar- 
ranged their few and simple articles for domestic 
use, ready to be transported to other camping- 
ground, at an hour's notice. Bartlett has a 
good view of this very encampment among his 
sketches. We apprehend these Bedouin tents 
truly represent those under which Abraham 
rested, when u By faith he sojourned in (this) 
land of promise, as in a strange country, dwel- 
ling in tabernacles, with Isaac and Jacob, the 
heirs with him of the same promise." (Heb. 11: 
9, 10.) 

At twelve o'clock, M. we reached the north- 
western slope of Tabor, which here spurs down, 
and connects with the hills of Galilee. Stand- 
ing mainly isolated as it does, its appearance is 
quite imposing, Ps. 89, although it is not as high 
by several hundred feet as Safed, and not much 
above the mountains which border the western 
side of the Lake of Tiberias. The actual height 
of Tabor is 1,748 feet above the Mediterranean, 
and about 1,300 above the plain of Esdraelon, 
which it borders. Oblong in its form, its 
northern, eastern and southern sides are very 



MOUNT TABOR. 211 

abrupt, and would be difficult of ascent even by 
persons on foot. The western slope is easily 
ascended, but our dragoman, from ignorance, or 
intentionally, missed the proper horse-track, and 
we were compelled to turn back before reaching 
its summit. 

Tabor w T as early pointed out by tradition, as 
the " Mount of transfiguration," Matt., 17: 1 — 
13. Luke, 9: 28. Its summit was occupied by 
churches and monasteries as early as the sixth 
or seventh century. Peter's desire here to " make 
three tabernacles," the spirit of superstition, in a 
later age, literally accomplished. At the pre- 
sent day the ruins of former buildings are seen. 
That this was the " high mountain" where our 
Saviour was transfigured, before the chosen wit- 
nesses of that remarkable transaction, Peter, 
James, and J ohn, w 7 e see nothing to disprove, if 
there is little evidence to confirm the tradition: 
on the whole, we felt quite willing to admit its 
correctness. Dr. Robinson adduces several 
reasons to refute this generally-received tradition. 
We were not in this instance, however, convinced 
of the correctness of his argument One of his 
strong points is, that the top of Tabor was very 
early occupied as a fortified military post, and, 
in all probability, so occupied by the Romans at 
the period in question. Admitting such to be 
the fact, it is by no means conclusive against the 
tradition. It is not probable that the camp 



212 MOUNT TABOR. 

covered the whole summit — and even if it did, 
there was nothing in the visit of four unarmed 
peasants to attract the attention of the Eoman 
soldiery. We see nothing in the narratives or 
in the nature of the transaction, or in the events 
in some degree analogous, which we find record- 
ed in the Gospels, which would involve any ne- 
cessity that the transfiguration should be visible, 
except to the three chosen witnesses. The 
bright cloud that overshadowed them may well 
be supposed to have obscured the view of others. 
(John, 1: 32, and 12: 28, 29. Acts, 9: 7.) 

After lunching on the side of the mountain, 
we mounted our horses, and descended to the 
small village of Deburieh, which stands nearly 
at its base; and thence pursued our way over 
the hills to Nazareth, where we arrived at an 
early hour in the afternoon, purposing to resume 
on the following day our journey toward Jerus- 
alem* 



CHAPTEE XXII. 



THE MISSION OF JEHU. 

The Character of Jehu— Self-styled reformers of the present 
age — Importance of knowledge of local relations in reading 
Scripture narratives — Saul at Endor — Christ at >'ain — 
Mountain of Gilboa — Elishaat Shunem — Valley of Jezreel 
— Beth-Shan in view — Saul's Death — King Joranrs War — 
Sick at Jezreel — Elisha sends to Eamoth-Gilead and 
anoints Jehu king— Jehu's Commission — Scene of Jehu's 
exploits — Destruction of the house of Ahab. 

The character of Jehu, as it is presented to 
us by the inspired historian, is one of strange 
contradictions. Perhaps it would not be diffi- 
cult to find his counterpart in some of the self- 
styled reformers of the present day, were their 
characters impartially weighed. Under the in- 
fluence of an impetuous and consuming zeal, he 
dashes forward to the accomplishment of his 
purpose, with little apparent regard to the means, 
if the end be attained, calling even the abstemi- 
ous Jehonadab to ascend his chariot and witness 
his " zeal for the Lord." Yet this same Jehu, 
in his personal conduct, "took no heed to walk 
in the law of the Lord God of Israel, with all his 
heart; for he departed not from the sins of J ero- 
boam, who made Tsrael to sin.*" 



214 THE MISSION OF JEHU. 

In very many instances, we shall more intelli- 
gently understand the Scripture narratives, and 
they will impart to us a much higher interest, 
when we adequately apprehend the scenes of 
their occurrence. Our present object will be 
mainly an attempt to illustrate a portion of the 
narrative which we find in the ninth and tenth 
chapters of 2 Kings, respecting the destruction 
of the house of Ahab by Jehu. In order to do 
this, we shall present the relative situation of 
places contiguous to Jezreel, to which we may 
have occasion to refer. Our journey from Naz- 
areth to Jenin, led us directly across the plain of 
Esdraelon. An hour after leaving Nazareth, 
we descended by a steep and ancient pathway 
from the hills of Galilee into the plain. We 
had Mount Tabor in fall view on our left, at an 
hour's distance. The little Hermon rises ab- 
ruptly in the midst of the plain. High up on its 
northern side, and directly fronting Tabor, are 
the villages of Endor and Nain. In about an 
hour we reached and crossed the north-western 
slope of this mountain ridge, and lost sight of 
them. How often, as our thoughts recur to 
those contiguous sites, do we instinctively mingle 
the recollection of those dissimilar visits, of 
which we have the record on the sacred page. 
The Saviour of mankind, in his mercy-errands, 
ascends in the light of day the steep sides of 
Hermon — attracted towards the conspicuous 



THE MISSION OF JEHU. 215 

gates of Nain, from which, as they approach, is 
emerging that sympathizing throng, who are 
carrying forth the lifeless remains of a young 
man, " the only son of his mother, and she was 
a widow," Luke 7: 11. The sequel I need not 
rehearse. The other visit to which we refer, 
and which occurred more than a thousand years 
previous, was that of the foreboding and guilty 
Saul to Endor. 

Passing the host of the Philistines, which lay 
encamped at Shunem, on the southern side of 
this same hill. Saul, on his dismal visit to the 
Witch of Endor, had wound his way around or 
over its steep summit in the darkness of 
night — (1 Sam. 28.) We agitated the ques- 
tion when on the ground, and inferred that he 
probably passed around the eastern end of the 
hill. From his camp under the Gilboa range, it 
was a ride of several hours; and we need not be 
surprised, that after the interview, the king was 
faint and dismayed. 

Proceeding on our way, as we turned easterly 
to pass around to the southern side of this ridge, 
the Gilboa range of mountains soon burst upon 
our vision, some ten or twelve miles in the dis- 
tance south-east of us. The bright rays of the 
morning sun rested upon them, as they lay in 
our view, richly girdled with fleecy and floating 
clouds. We soon entered and passed the miser- 
able village of mud hovels which occupies the 



216 



THE lOSSIOif OF JEHU. 



site of the ancient Shunera, where of old the pro- 
phet Elisha was often entertained by one of its 
pious and distinguished dwellers — (II Kings. 4: 
8.) We gathered here an orange leaf for cur 
herbarium, as a memento of " the Prophet's 
Chamber," and were admonished that those who 
extend a cheerful hospitality to the servants of 
the Lord, even in this day. will often find that 
they have, as it were, entertained angels una- 
wares. Here we descended into the valley or 
plain of Jezreel, of about four miles in width, 
which lies between this lesser Hermon and Jez- 
reel. When half-wav over this arm of Esdrae- 
Ion. Beth-Shan came into view on our left, 
several miles distant eastward, and in a measure 
shutting off our view farther down toward the 
Jordan. On the sides of the adjacent moun- 
tains of Gilboa, it is recorded in strains of touch- 
ing pathos, was " the shield of the mighty vilely 
cast away — the shield of Saul, as though he had 
not been anointed with oil." And against the 
conspicuous walls of Beth-Shan, the headless 
and dishonoured bodies of Saul and his sons 
were ignominiously nailed up by the victorious 
Philistines. 

Our readers will please to keep in view the 
relation of these places, and notice specially that 
between the somewhat elevated site of Beth- 
Shan, and the mountains of Gilboa, the passage 
down to the Jordan is comparatively narrow. 



THE MISSION OF JEHU. 



217 



An hour's ride from Shunem brought us upon 
the commanding and beautiful site of Jezreel, 
and we now recur to the special incident we have 
in view in the mission of Jehu. 

Wounded in battle with Hazael, king of Sy- 
ria, Joram, the son of Ahab, had returned from 
his camp to Jezreel to be healed, leaving his 
army in command of Jehu. The prophet Elisha 
now directs one of the young prophets to gird up 
his loins and go to Eamoth Gilead, on the east 
side of Jordan, and there anoint Jehu as the fu- 
ture king of Israel, saying — " Thus saith the 
Lord God of Israel, I have anointed thee king 
over the people of the Lord, even over Israel. 
And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy 
master, that I may avenge the blood of my ser- 
vants the prophets, and the blood of all the ser- 
vants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel."" — 
(II Kings, 9.) 

On Jehu's acquainting his troops with what had 
occurred, he is by them proclaimed king, v. 13, 
and he immediately proceeds to cross the J or- 
dan, to execute his commission upon the house 
of Ahab. " &o Jehu rode in a chariot and went 
to Jezreel, for Joram lay there." 

We were delighted with the fine view which 
Jezreel affords in every direction. Its ancient 
watch tower must have commanded a view of the 
whole adjacent region eastward, nearly clown to 
the Jordan. Beth- Shan we should judge to be 



218 



THE MISSION OF JEHU. 



six or seven miles distant below it, and there, as 
we have before remarked, the valley or plain ap- 
peared quite narrow. It is not in fact more than 
three miles wide. 

When J ehu and his host reached that point, 
between Gilboa and Beth-Shan, he would na- 
turally be descried by " the watchman on the 
tower in JezreeV of which report being made to 
king Joram, in his palace below, a messenger on 
horseback is quickly dispatched down into the 
plain to meet the ambiguous host, and question 
the object of their approach: " Is it peace? 5 ' We 
may safely assume that this messenger would 
meet Jehu at the distance of three miles or more. 
On the report made of his detention, and being 
turned into the rear of the still advancing troop, 
a second messenger is in like manner despatched, 
who would naturally meet Jehu at the distance 
of a mile, or a mile and a half down on the plain; 
whom also being turned into the rear— the 
watchman told, saying: " He came even unto 
them, and cometh not again; and the driving is 
like the driving of J ehu, the son of Nimshi; for 
he driveth furiously." 

The alarmed monarch, now awakened to a 
sense of his impending danger, quickly summons 
his forces to meet the crisis, and accompanied 
by Ahaziah, king of Judah, ascend their chariots 
to make a feeble resistance to the impetuous on- 
set of Jehu, who, quickly from the plain, ascends 



THE MISSION OF JEHU. 



219 



the steep northern sides of the site on which Jez- 
reel stood, and the conflicting parties meet " in 
the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite," where Jo- 
ram is quickly despatched by an arrow from the 
strong arm of J ehu. 

We shall not now attempt further to follow 
the narrative. "We have been impressed with 
the obvious accuracy of the sacred historian, 
here as well as elsewhere; the localities and dis- 
tances being just such as seem naturally to be 
required by the incidents related, affording just 
time for the transactions to have occurred in the 
order they are recorded, and imparting to the 
Biblical student, in this distant age, another 
addition to the numerous incidental and internal 
evidences of the authenticity and credibility of 
the sacred Scriptures. 



CHAPTEK 



XXITT. 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 

Plain of Esdraelon — Lunch on the vineyard of Naboth — A 
Night at Jenin — Scenery in view — Journey to Samaria — 
Its fine situation — Ancient terraces — Columns — "Walled 
and adorned by Herod — Bums of the Church of St. John 
the Baptist — His place of Execution considered — Jose- 
phus' account not reliable — The modem villagers — At- 
tempted robbery — Continued explorations — Extended 
colonnade — Historic review. 

In the progress of our journey through the 
Holy Land, our route from Nazareth to Jerusa- 
lem, and intermediate places of interest, carried 
us directly over the great Central Plaix of 
Palestine — Esdraelox, here about eighteen 
miles across, being its widest part. This plain 
is the great " battle-ground" of ages, from the 
days of Sisera to Napoleon. The soil is rich, I 
producing cotton, corn, and wheat, though but 
a small part of it is under cultivation. Leav- 
ing Nazareth and the hills of Galilee, on the 
south of it, we descended into this plain, some 
six miles to the west of Tabor, having before us 
on our left, in full view, the villages of Nain 
and Endor— high up on the northern side of the 



SAMARIA AXD ITS MONUMENTS. 



221 



lesser Hermon, which here rises in an oblong and 
naked form, in the midst of the plain. Passing 
over the western extremity of this hill, we soon 
came to the village of Shun em, situated under 
its south-western side. A7e now entered the 
valley, and in an hour and a quarter reached 
the fine site of Jezreel, which is another eleva- 
tion in the great plain. Here we spread our 
cloth on the ground and lunched — to the best 
of our knowledge, on "the vineyard of IsTaboth.'' 
The view from the spot was very fine. Two or 
three marble or lime-stone Sarcophagi lay on 
the ground. 

During much of the morning we had enjoyed 
a fine view of the Gilboa range, which stretches 
along eastward toward the Jordan. These moun- 
tains were now nigh at hand, naked and sterile, 
as if neither dew nor rain had fallen upon them 
since the day that David uttered his touching 
lament over the untimely death of Saul and 
Jonathan. "The beauty of Israel is slain upon 
thy high places: how are the mighty fallen!" 
Crossing the western spur of this range, we 
arrived at Jenin on the evening of the eighth 
of January, in good time to make our arrange- 
ments for the night. This village is pleasantly 
situated on the southern edge of the plain, and 
commands a good view of it, and of the country 
adjacent. Its Mosque and minaret, its date, 
palm, olive and orange trees; with the hedges 



222 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



of prickly pear, as seen at a distance, give it an 
imposing air, which leads to some disappoint- 
ment on a nearer approach, especially if you 
have to take shelter in one of its miserable flat- 
roofed dwellings, for a night's repose. 

We rose at an early hour the following 
morning to greet the dawn of another lovely 
day. From the roof of our quarters we enjoyed 
a retrospective view of the distant scenery, so 
full of interest, on which we were about to gaze 
for the last time. We had spread out before us 
a landscape of peculiar interest, with which the 
eyes and footsteps of Elijah and Elisha were 
familiar. On our left, in the w r est, Carmel 
stretched obliquely; w^hich, with the converging 
hills of Galilee, shut off a view of the Mediter- 
ranean, Quite down in that direction, one of 
Judah's best monarch's, and her last good one, 
Josiah, lost his life, when, as the vassal of the 
King of Babylon, he there attempted to obstruct 
the march of Pharaoh-Xecho to the Euphrates: 
2 Chron. 35: 20-23. 

Yonder hills, directly before us, in the north, 
w r ere the rambling places of Him in the early 
"days of his flesh," who, having assumed our 
nature, condescended to a condition poor and 
secluded, in that despised place, Nazareth. 
Under Hermon we could see Shunem, where 
the piety of the Shunamite woman provided the 
"Prophet's chamber" for Elisha. Jezreel, too, 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



223 



in the midst of the plain, where that personation 
of iniquity, Jezebel, met at the hands of Jehu, 
the just retribution for her cruelties, referred to 
in our previous chapter on the Mission of Jehu. 
These and other localities were before us; while 
far away in the north, the beautiful snowy sum- 
mit of the great Hermon was gilded by the 
rays of the rising sun. 

Leaving Jenin at eight o'clock, A. M., we 
entered a deep and narrow Wady, which passes 
up in a southern direction into the hills of 
Ephraim or Samaria. An hour and a half 
brought us into the village of Kubatiyeh, having 
a large number of olive and pomegranate trees in 
the little valley below it. At ten o'clock we 
reached the top of an exceedingly rough pass at 
the south of Jerba. In another hour we passed 
over a wide basin of three or four miles in cir- 
cumference, to w T hich the Arabs, according to 
Dr. Eobinson, give the designation of " Drowned 
Meadow 7 .' 5 It has no outlet or drainage, but 
we found it nearly dry. Soon after this we 
passed the ruined village of Saumur. Before 
noon we w r ere up to the large village of Jeba, in 
the vicinity of which there is a great number of 
olive trees. Ascending the hill further on, we 
had a view of a small space of the Mediterranean. 
At half-past twelve, we gained an elevation 
w T hich commanded a wide view of the sea, where 
we had twenty to thirty miles of its coast in 



22± 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



sight, along which there is a wide plain ex- 
tending. 

At one o'clock w 7 e began a difficult descent 
in a south-east direction, towards the village of 
BurJca, which is larger and better built than 
most others we had passed, and has a fine grove 
of olive trees in the valley at the south of it. 

We now had, in the distance, a view of the 
" Hill Samaria" the terraced sides of which, 
with its foliage and verdure, at once attracted 
our admiration, although our Dragoman stoutly 
insisted that it w r as not Samaria. 

Travellers agree in extolling the beauty of 
its situation, as unequalled in Palestine. It is 
an oblong elevation, rising some five or six 
hundred feet above the valley that surrounds it, 
and is not far from three miles in circumference 
at its base; its length extending eastward and 
westward. It is environed with hills, and must 
have been always dependent on its wells, cisterns 
and springs, for its supply of water, as there is 
no stream passing through the narrow valleys 
on either side. 

It would appear that there were twelve or 
more terraces, or offsets, between the base and 
the summit of the hill, the highest part of which 
is at its western extremity. In "Bartlett's 
Sketches," there is a fine view of Samaria. 
Apart from the beauty of the locality, (which, 
with its early splendour, has probably been 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



225 



quite overrated by some travellers,) there are 
few places in Palestine of greater interest to the 
Bible student. Long the capital of the Ten 
Tribes, its history and vicissitudes have a dis- 
tinguished prominence on the sacred page. 
During the reign of Ahab, Jezreel, some thirty 
miles distant at the north, seems to have divided 
with it the honours of the court. 

We ascended the hill by a gradual path lead- 
ing towards the eastern extremity; and when 
about half way up, we came unexpectedly upon 
an extensive ruin, of eighteen limestone columns 
standing, and one or more prostrated, about two 
feet in diameter, by fifteen to twenty feet in 
length. There may have been others lying on 
the ground, as we did not ride to the extremity 
of the area, which was tilled, and the wheat con- 
siderably advanced. They occupy a level space 
of about six hundred feet in length by three 
hundred feet wide, the side of the hill having 
been excavated to secure the level area of the 
parallelogram. 

We are not aware that any other traveller 
has noticed these ruins except Maundrell, who 
evidently refers to them alone. He was here 
in March, A. D. 1696. They escaped the 
observation of Drs. Robinson and Smith, in their 
visit here in June, 1838. It is difficult satis- 
factorily to account for the original design of 
these ruins. They belong, without doubt, to 



226 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



the period of Herod the Great. The location 
seems well adapted for a stadium or amphitheatre. 
There is not the least indication that it was the 
site of a palace, although of larger extent; yet, 
from the strong resemblance it has to some of 
the Roman temples at Pompeii, we were strongly 
inclined to the opinion that such was the design 
of the structure. The space occupied well 
corresponds to the temple spoken of by 
J osephus. 

This, and other similar ruins which we shall 
mention, are, doubtless, rightly attributed to 
Herod, who, we are informed, rebuilt and 
adorned Samaria, and in honour of Augustus, 
named it Sebaste. The principles of Herod 
would make it quite consistent for him to re- 
build or beautify the temple of the Jews, at 
Jerusalem, while, at Samaria, he reared another, 
in which his patron Augustus should be the 
presiding hero or deity. 

Herod surrounded Samaria with a strong 
wall, but we did not discover any traces of it 
remaining. Josephus ascribes this to his desire 
to fortify himself against the people, as well as 
to perpetuate his own fame. He remarks: 
"And when he went about building the wall 
of Samaria, he contrived to bring thither many 
of those that had assisted him in his wars, and 
many of the people in that neighbourhood also, 
whom he made fellow-citizens with the rest. 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



227 



This he did out of an ambitious desire of build 
ing a temple, and out of a desire to make the 
city more eminent that it had been before; but 
principally because he contrived that it might 
at once be for its own security, and a monument 
of his magnificence. He also changed its name, 
and called it Sebaste. Besides all which he 
compassed the city with a wall of great strength, 
and made use of the acclivity of the place for 
making its fortifications stronger, Now within 
and about the middle of it he built a sacred 
place, and adorned it with all sorts of decorations, 
and therein erected a temple, which was illus- 
trious on account of both its largeness and 
beauty; and as to the elegance of the building, 
it was taken care of also, that he might leave 
monuments of the fineness of his taste, and of 
his beneficence, to future ages." Joseph. Ant. 
B. 15: 8. In another chapter he informs us 
that, on the occasion of the completion of these 
structures, Herod made a magnificent banquet, 
and that "Julia, Csssar's wife, sent a great part 
of her valuable furniture" to add to the splendour 
of the occasion. Some allowance must be made 
for his proneness to exaggerate. 

Pursuing our way up the hill, we soon carne 
to the church of St. John TnE Baptist, stand- 
ing on the verge of the precipitous eastern brow 
of the hill. This is the most perfect ruin of 
the kind in Palestine. The walls of the edifice 



228 SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 

are principally standing. Within their enclosure 
is the reputed tomb of John, in honour of whom 
the church was originally erected. It is now 
used also as a Mohammedan Mosque. Tradi- 
tion at an early period fixed upon this spot as 
the place where the body of John was interred 
after he had been beheaded by order of Herod 
Antipas. 

The generally-received opinion that the Bap- 
tist was beheaded in the castle of Machaerus, 
on the east of the Dead Sea, rests entirely upon 
a brief statement of Josephus. " Herod," he 
says, " feared least the great influence John had 
over the people might put it in his power and 
inclination to raise a rebellion. He therefore 
thought best, by putting him to death, to pre- 
vent any mischief he might cause. Accordingly 
he was sent a prisoner, out of Herod's suspicious 
temper, to Machaerus, and was there put to 
death." 

The reason here assigned for this act of 
Herod's, differs so entirely from those of the 
Evangelists, Matthew and Mark, as appropriately 
to induce an inquiry into the grounds of its 
credibility, Josephus was born five or seven 
years subsequent to the event he narrates. 
His book of Jewish Antiquities was written by 
him in Rome, after the destruction of the Jewish 
state, and probably quite as late as A. D. 80. 
The fact that John had been put to death by 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 229 

Herod, was doubtless only known to him by 
means of popular tradition, which most obviously 
led him into error in regard to the true reasons 
which swayed Herod in the commission of this 
atrocious act, and we may reasonably infer that 
he was equally liable to be deceived in regard to 
his place of imprisonment and execution. We 
believe the grounds of evidence greatly prepon- 
derate against him. 

From Mark we learn (1.) that John was im- 
prisoned at the instigation of Herodias. Chap. 
6: 17. (2.) That he was beheaded at the urgent 
request of the daughter of Herodias. V. 24. 
(3.) That Herod felt very great repugnance to 
comply with his promise to the daughter of 
Herodias, although it had been made under the 
sanction of an oath. V. 26. (4.) The execu- 
tion was ordered, and the head of the Baptist 
immediately produced to gratify the morbid 
desire of a vicious woman. V. 27, 28. (5.) 
We learn that the guests of this birth-day ban- 
quet were the chief officers of Herod's army, 
and persons of distinction in Galilee. V. 21. 

From the facts thus clearly stated by the 
Evangelist, and other considerations that occur 
to us, we have little doubt that this feast was 
celebrated in the midst of Galilee, either at 
Sepphoris, which lay a little north-west of 
Nazareth, which Antipas had strongly walled 
and made the metropolis of his Tetrarchy, or at 



230 SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 

Tiberias, his new and favourite city. The 
character, also, of very many of the guests- 
Galileans — seems to forbid the idea that it was 
celebrated in the distant region east of the Jordan 
or Dead Sea, in the fortress of Machaerus, on the 
very confines of, if not within the dominions of 
Aretas, the father of Herod's repudiated wife, 
and who on that account was justly his most 
bitter enemy. In view of these suggestions, we 
are inclined, even in the face of authority, 
eminently entitled to consideration, to regard 
Samaria as by no means an improbable place 
for the interment of John, and this traditional 
tomb as entitled to more than ordinary respect. 

The village is immediately adjacent to the 
church, and the villagers soon gathered around 
us in large numbers. Their appearance verified 
the bad reputation they sustain. Similarly cir- 
cumstanced, a more savage-looking set I do not 
care again to meet. Having expressed our 
wish to examine the interior of the building, and 
settling upon the amount of bakhshish, w 7 hich 
was paid in advance, we dismounted from our 
horses, leaving them in charge of my servant — 
a stout German, and an armed Arab, whom we 
had prudently taken with us from Nazareth. 
Descending into the sunken court in front of the 
building, we entered the door of the enclosed 
ruin. I at once saw that the Arabs were 
crowding in also, and insisted upon our drago- 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 231 

man's preventing it, but he had no apprehension 
of the danger, which was soon apparent. We 
had barely begun our examinations, and were 
just at the head of a flight of stairs which led 
down to the tomb of the Baptist, when our 
attention was arrested by the closing of the 
door, and the loud demand of "bakhshish" 
saluted our ears, while our Greek dragoman 
was struggling in the crowd around him to re- 
open the door. 

It was a scene of intense interest for a few 
moments! We were prisoners, in not very 
enviable keeping; three ladies and two gentlemen, 
entirely unarmed. Fortunately for us, there 
were two parties among the Arabs, — our armed 
man without, and Gieovana within, aided by 
those who sided with them, soon re-opened the 
door, and we were willing to leave, with a much 
less minute examination of the premises than 
we had designed. 

Again on our horses, I drew from my pocket 
a large black opera glass used for perspective 
purposes, examining it with some significant 
intimations that it might be well to keep at 
good distance when that was produced. The 
Arabs are under the impression that Europeans 
are always " armed to the teeth," and I had no 
doubt that they supposed my glass to be a 
powerful weapon. 

We determined not to be deterred from an 



232 



SAMARIA AND ITS MOXUXENTS. 



examination of the place; so we rode past the 
village westward, and soon came to an area on 
a level with the third or fouth terrace below the 
summit, on which is a cluster of fifteen or more 
limestone columns similar in size to those before 
referred to. On a full examination of the sub- 
ject I deem them to have formed part of a grand 
Propylcea or Portico to the colonnade which ex- 
tends along on the southern side of the hill on 
nearly the same level, and which Drs, Robinson 
and Smith traced for more than three thousand 
feet. About one hundred of the columns still 
stand erect in their original position. It was 
obviously in its time a very splendid affair. We 
now rode farther westward to the summit of the 
hill; the terraces are so steep that it required 
some horsemanship to ride up their sides. This 
western extremity is considerably the highest 
part. Here is a level space of some extent, 
covered with olive trees and under cultivation, 
as are the sides and slopes of the hill according 
to the words of the prophet: u Therefore I will 
make Samaria as an heap of the field and as 
plantings of a vineyard; and I will pour down the 
stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover 
the foundations thereof." Micah, 1: 6. 

Here we had a fine view of the large number 
of standing columns on the terrace below. The 
whole scene was imposing : the surrounding 
hills, with the green and beautiful valley open- 



SAMARIA AST) ITS MONUMENTS. 233 

ing out in the west, and an extended view of the 
Mediterranean with its adjacent plain. 

In the unchanged habits of life, and much 
that meets our eyes in these regions, we feel 
transported back, holding converse with primi- 
tive times. Here is a spot, long gilded by the 
pageants of royalty, but now in the depths of 
degradation. What changes have come over it 
in the lapse of more than twenty-eight centuries. 
since the day that Omri 54 bought the Hill 
Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and 
built on the hill, and called the name of the city 
which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner 
of the hill Samaria. 1 Kings, 16: 24, 

Dark and baleful as the record is, yet shall 
Samaria be made to subserve some good to 
succeeding ages, and not alone as a beacon of 
warning to those who corrupt the pure worship 
of God. A simple incident in its siege, by the 
Syrian army of Ben Hadad, recorded 2 Kings; 
6th and 7th chapters, is full of instruction, and 
will remain to the latest ages of time to subserve 
and illustrate the ample provisions of the 
Gospel. 

How many of our race under the felt pressure 
of sin's burdens and sin's perils — that leprosy 
within — while meditating the conclusions of the 
four famishing "leprous men, at the entering in 
at the gate," 2 Kings, 7: 3. 4, have betaken 
themselves, without reserve, to the foot of the 



234: SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMECTS. 

cross, and found there the balm of Gilead for 
sin's maladies, and the bread of life for famish- 
ing souls, without money and without price? It 
is no very improbable conjecture, that when 
" Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and 
preached Christ unto them," he began at " this 
same Scripture" to unfold his fitness to their 
wants as sinners. 

Standing on this summit with the narrative 
in your hand, you may vividly imagine the 
Syrian army spread in the valley, around this 
famishing and beleagured city; and with the 
landscape before you, it is interesting to discover 
some of those circumstances which seem to have 
concurred with miraculous interposition, to 
verify, by natural results, the predictions of the 
prophet, " to-morrow, about this time, shall a 
measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel." 

The Syrians had invaded the land, doubtless 
by the usual caravan track from Damascus to 
Egypt, which, passing a little to the north-west 
of the lake of Tiberias, drops into the plains of 
Esdraelon, near the western base of Tabor; and 
they had in all probability approached Samaria 
by the very track we have described in our journey 
here. The panic which seized upon the besieg- 
ing army, arose from an apprehension of the 
sudden approach of an Egyptian army: ci For 
the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to 
hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses." 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



235 



The natural course for such succour to approach, 
would be by the way of the Mediterranean plain, 
and up the narrow valley, which opens in that 
direction, in the west. Add to this the noise 
of "Hittites" from the southeast, over the hills 
in that direction. This would preclude any 
escape from them, except over the mountainous 
and difficult passes at the north, by which they 
had invaded the land. To take luggage, or 
even animals, in such haste, would be all but 
hopeless, " wherefore they arose and fled in the 
twilight, and left their tents, and their asses, 
even the camp as it was, and fled for their life." 
The course of escape would thus be toward the 
plains of Esdraelon, and so to the Jordan. Such 
as at first took baggage would fling it array in 
the difficult passes, and so we read: "And they 
went after them unto Jordan; and lo, all the way 
was full of garments and vessels which the 
Syrians had cast away in their haste" — " So a 
measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and 
two measures of barley for a shekel, according 
to the word of the Lord/' 



CHAPTEE XXIV. 

MOUNT GERIZIM AND JACOB 's WELL. 

Departure from Samaria — Lunch by the way — Ride to Fa- 
blous — Late arrival — Ebal and Gerizim— Night at Nablous 
— Journey resumed — Yisit to the Samaritan Synagogue — 
Their ancient Pentateuch — Yisit to Mount Gerizim — Sa- 
maritan Keblah — Ruins of an ancient fortress — Scenery in 
view — Reflections on past history — Descent into the val- 
ley—The Tomb of Joseph— Its identity— The Well of Ja- 
cob—Christ at the well — Scripture authenticated. 

We left the Hill Samaria at three o'clock, P. 
M., by a steep descent on the east of the ruins 
of the church of St. J ohn the Baptist. Our re- 
cent exciting adventure within its walls had not 
entirely lost its impression, and we were thankful 
to get safely away from this notoriously bad 
community. The path by which we descended 
is a steep and narrow gorge, the sides of which 
are partially walled up, and we observed in it 
numerous pieces of cut stone and marble, the 
vestiges of Samaria's ancient grandeur. 

We crossed the narrow valley on the south- 
east, and at the margin of the opposite hills, by 
the side of a spring, spread our table- cloth and 
lunched at half-past three o'clock. We soon 



and Jacob's well. 



237 



remounted our horses, and hastened on our jour- 
ney over the rugged hills that intervene between 
Samaria and Nablous. An hour and a half 
brought us over the green valley which separates 
Ebal and Gerizim, here opening westward, de- 
scending into which, our path conducted us in 
an eastern direction along the northern side of 
the valley, which is here about one-fourth of a 
mile wide. On our left, high above us, hung 
the naked, rocky and precipitous sides of Ebal, 
in which numerous openings of tombs are seen, 
and high up towards its summit stands a small 
and lone church and monastery. The moun- 
tains gradually impinge upon the valley, forming 
a deep gorge, in which numerous springs gush 
from the mountain's base, and flow off irrigating 
the land, and presenting an aspect of fertility 
such as we had nowhere seen in Palestine. The 
patches of wheat and barley were considerably 
advanced on the ninth of January. The water 
here descends towards the Mediterranean, ISTa- 
blous being on or near the summit of the water- 
shed, while the drainage east of the town 
descends towards the Jordan. This singular 
circumstance Dr. Robinson was the first travel- 
ler to notice. 

It was nearly dark before we reached and 
entered the narrow streets of the village, and we 
began to feel some anxiety to know what provi- 
sion our Arab dragoman, who had preceded us 



238 



MOUNT GERIZIM 



with the luggage, had made for the night. We 
were met, however, at the western gate, and con- 
ducted to comfortable apartments in the house 
of a Christian Arab, where we placed our beds, 
and enjoyed a quiet night. 

The following morning we rose at an early 
hour, and left our quarters at half-past seven. 
Our first object was a visit to the Samaritans, 
who reside in the western part of the town. 
They now consist, as they informed us, of twen- 
ty families, still retaining, on their ancient soil, 
all the peculiar characteristics of the sect. There 
is little, however, in their external appearance 
to distinguish them from the Arabs around them. 
Their Synagogue and ancient Pentateuch were 
the chief objects of our curiosity. While on our 
way, we passed some of the most luxuriant, large, 
and beautiful orange trees that I have ever seen 
either in the West Indies or the south of Europe. 
They were loaded with fruit, and were truly 
magnificent. The oranges of Palestine are re- 
markably fine; Sidon and Jaffa are the principal 
places w 7 here they are produced. 

Arrived at the Samaritan quarters, we were 
conducted through one or two buildings to the 
door of the Synagogue, Here, as in the Mosques 
of Constantinople, we were required to take off 
our boots and substitute slippers, before we en- 
tered the sacred enclosure. It is a small arched 
stone-building, rude in its appearance, the floor 



AND JACOB S WELL. 



239 



partially covered with mats. We informed the 
old priest that we were Americans. We had 
in our hands Dr. Robinson's account of his visit 
to them, some twelve years before, which cir- 
cumstance excited considerable curiosity in the 
minds of the Samaritans, and induced them to 
produce their manuscript Pentateuch, for which 
they claim an antiquity of thirty-five hundred 
years! It is rolled on two connected scrolls, pre- 
served with great care, and bears decided marks 
of antiquity; whether it is more than five to 
seven hundred years old may w T ell be doubted. 

No other vestige of this remarkable sect is 
known to exist; their perpetuity is a singular 
fact in history, in which the designs of Provi- 
dence may hereafter be better understood. 

From their synagogue we next proceeded to 
their Keblah, on Mount Gerizim. Pursuing 
the usual way of ascent, which we found so steep 
that our horses with difficulty sustained their 
riders, we reached the western level in half an 
hour, and in a quarter more arrived over the 
eastern precipice of the mountain, on the northern 
verge of which there are the ruins of an ancient 
and very formidable castle, which Dr. Robinson 
refers to the times of Justinian. This point 
commands an extensive and fine view — in the 
west, of the Mediterranean, the great sea of the 
ancients, — on the east, the mountains of Moab 
and Ammon are distinctly visible. 



240 



MOUNT GERIZIM 



In such a spot, surrounded by such associa- 
tions, the thrilling events of centuries rush in 
upon one's thoughts. This is the sacred place 
of the Samaritan; here stood their ancient tem- 
ple; near at hand is their great place of sacrifice; 
toward this point they always turn in prayer; 
and here they repair in great solemnity at the 
four great annual festivals. The foundations of 
an edifice are distinctly traced, which was, in all 
probability, their temple. Ebal — drear and so- 
lemn, whence the curses were to be denounced, 
— extends along on the north, and far away be- 
yond it the snowy Anti-Lebanon rears his giant 
head. Into this long, narrow, and beautiful 
valley at our feet, which stretches away in the 
south and east, Abram, the father of the faithful, 
came, after his departure from Haran, Genesis, 
12: 6, and here the Lord appeard unto him " and 
said, unto thy seed will I give this land." Here 
Jacob repaired as he " came from Padan-Aram 
and pitched his tent before the city." Genesis, 
33: 18. The site of " Shalem" is marked by 
one of the little villages on the rising ground, 
some two miles in the distance in the north-east. 
Here, too, at our left, in the valley below, " he 
bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread 
his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, 
Shechem's father, for a hundred pieces of money." 

Here Joseph came, wearing his coat of many 
colours, when at the command of his father, Ja- 



axd Jacob's well. 



241 



cob, he sought his brethren to enquire whether 
it " were well with them, and well with their 
flocks?" Gen. 37: 12. That the passion for 
various colours, in the stripes of their narrow- 
skirted outside cloak, which is worn by the 
Arabs, owes its origin to Joseph's envied garment, 
there is little doubt in my mind. 

On the sides of this mountain, and in the val- 
ley under it, one half of the tribes of Israel, by 
command of Moses, were to assemble and pro- 
nounce the blessings upon the faithful, while on 
the sides of Ebal, before us, the other half 
were to denounce the curses on the disobedient 
— Deut. 27: 12— in obedience to which, Joshua 
convened the people, " half of them over against 
Mount Gerizim, and half them over against 
Mount Ebal;" and subsequently, at the close of 
his eventful life, they were gathered here to re- 
ceive his dying charge — Josh. 8th and 24th ch. 
— at which time, it would seem, they interred 
the bones of Joseph — perhaps the mummied body 
had been preserved. Here occurred the sad ca- 
tastrophy of disunion, after the death of Solo- 
mon. 1 Kings, 12. 

At half-past ten o'clock we left this interest- 
ing spot, and began our descent into the Kablous 
valley, by an exceedingly steep ravine, half a 
mile east of the village. In half an hour we 
reached the plain, where there is a fine olive 
grove. This valley, formed by Ebal and Geri- 



242 



MOUNT GEPJZIM 



zim, and running eastward and westward, opens 
into another, already referred to, which extends 
several miles in a south-east direction; just at 
the junction of which valleys, the Tomb of Joseph 
is situated in the plain, nearly under the eastern 
spur of Ebal, while the Well of Jacob is on or 
under Gerizim. Many, indeed, are the events 
of history which concur to render this valley a 
spot memorable in its annals; but all others fade 
into insignificance, before the simple relation of 
that of a traveller who more than eighteen cen- 
turies ago, lone and " wearied with his jour- 
ney, he sat thus on the well: and it was about the 
sixth hour," when 66 there cometh a woman of 
Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, 
Give me to drink." We first rode over the 
valley to the Tomb of J oseph, over which now 
stands a low stone building — a Mohammedan 
Wely. We see no good reason to call in ques- 
tion the identity of this spot, as the place where 
the bodies of Joseph and his brethren were buried 
by Joshua. Stephen, in his address before the 
Jewish Sanhedrim, expressly refers to all the 
twelve patriarchs as having been buried here. 
Acts, 7: 15, 16. A learned critic gives the 
text this rendering: — " Jacob died, he and our 
fathers, they were carried over to Sychem and 
buried; he (J acob) in the sepulchre which Ab- 
raham bought for a sum of money, and they (the 
patriarchs) in that which was bought of the son 



and Jacob's well. 243 

of Emmor, the father of Sychem." We then 
repaired to the "Well of Jacob. While on our 
way I took out my Bible and read aloud the 
fourth chapter of John's Gospel, with an interest 
never before realized. To us, whose home is in 
the far West, what wondrous words were those 
that it is not " in this mountain" before us, "nor 
yet at Jerusalem" only, men are to "worship 
the Father. But the hour cometh, and now is, 
when the true worshippers shall worship the Fa- 
ther in spirit and in truth." 

On our approach to the place which tradition 
and history unite in pointing out as the spot 
where this wonderful conversation was held with 
the woman of Samaria, my attention was arrest- 
ed by the emphatic language of the woman: 
" Our fathers worshipped in this mountain" and 
pointed out to the surprise and delight of our 
party, that the Well was above the valley, and 
actually on the base or spur of Gerizim, almost 
directly under where we had stood an hour before! 

A number of old columns are scattered 
around, composing a part of the ruins of an ancient 
church which was once erected over this spot. 
The stones which cover the top of the well are 
so contracted as to leave but a small opening, 
and we had no time to remove them, or attempt 
a particular examination. We ascertained that 
" the well is deep," by dropping small stones in- 
to the aperture. 



244 



MOUNT GERIZIM AND JACOB'S WELL. 



The circumstance before referred to, so deep- 
ly affected my own mind, that it has been one of 
the chief designs of this sketch to call attention 
to the words " this mountain" as used in the 
20th and 21st verses of the chapter; and the 
original Greek text is still more emphatic. It 
impressed me at the moment, while on the 
ground, as peculiarly interesting, and as one of 
those incidental evidences with which the Scrip- 
tures abound, and which we everywhere met, of 
the accuracy of the sacred historians, and as 
another confirmation of the authenticity and in- 
spiration of Scripture, 

It is not alone in the sublimity of the an- 
nouncement, " God is a Spirit, and they that 
worship him must worship him in sph'it and in 
truth:" the accuracy of the descriptions and nar- 
ratives of the Bible, even in incidentals, chal- 
lenges our faith, and I see new reasons for 
believing that this Gospel of John, as well as all 
other Scripture, was written by inspired direc- 
tion: "Holy men" of old writing "as they were 
moved by the Holy Ghost. 5 ' 



CHAPTER XXV. 

GOING UP TO JERUSALEM. 

Departure from the Well of Jacob — Ride in the valley 
where Abraham and Jacob fed their flocks — INight at 
Sinjil — Journey to Jerusalem Vineyards — Lunch at Bethel 
—Jacob at Bethel — Raman and Gibeon — Songs of De- 
grees — View of Jerusalem — Entrance, of the city — Thank- 
ful recollections. 

It was nearly eleven o'clock, A. M., when 
we left the Well of Jacob, and proceeded on our 
way over the usual track toward Jerusalem. 
We had now before us a journey of two days, 
with little in the route of special interest to at- 
tract a traveller's attention. Our course for 
an hour and a half lay over the long and nar- 
row valley which extends in a south-easterly 
direction, and on which Abraham and Jacob of 
old were wont to feed their flocks; another 
hour was spent in climbing and descending a 
rough ridge and entering one of those narrow 
green valleys peculiar to this region, and which 
present so striking a contrast to the sterile and 
rocky hills which overhang them. 



246 



GOING UP TO JERUSALEM. 



Now we had the village of Lubban, the Le- 
bonah of the Old Testament, Judges 21: 19, on 
our right. In this vicinity, and extending for 
some miles, the limestone formation of the hills 
adjacent to the valleys, is very remarkable, and 
will claim the attention of the geologist, having 
regular offsets, bearing a striking resemblance 
to artificial terracing : in fact, we had little 
doubt that they were cultivated in better days. 
At three o'clock, P. M., we reached the ruined 
khan and fountain of Lubban, where we rested 
a short time, and watered our horses. Dr. 
Robinson found the site of the ancient Shilo an 
hour's distance from this point, up the valley 
on our left, but out of the direct road. To 
our great regret the lateness of the hour would 
not admit our turning aside to see that interest- 
ing location, with which the history of Samuel 
is so beautifully identified, (1 Samuel, 2nd and 
3rd chapter,) and w T e were compelled to mount 
the rugged hill before us, and at half-past four 
o'clock reached the village of Sinjil, where we 
stopped for the night. This elevated situation 
commands a good view of the Mediterranean 
on the south-west. 

With a cloudless sky over our heads, at an 
early hour the following morning, Friday, the 
eleventh of January, as we left Sinjil, our feel- 
ings warmed with the anticipation that before 
the sun sank in the western horizon, we might 



GOIXG UP TO JERUSALEM. 



247 



literally say with the psalmist, i; our feet shall 
stand within thy gates, Jerusalem." An 
hour onward we noticed for the first time in 
our journey a vineyard of some extent. The 
grape is doubtless cultivated in other places in 
Palestine, but we nowhere saw it but here and 
at Hebron. At eleven o'clock, A. M., we 
passed the village of Ain Yebrud, and at half- 
past twelve, P. M., we reached the site of 
Bethel, identified by Dr. Robinson, Here we 
ate our lunch, and gathered specimens of the 
broken agate stones, which, with pebbles of 
chalcedon, and various others, so thickly cover 
the ground, one might well infer that Jacob 
had the stones of the place for his Bed, as w r ell 
as for his Pillow, on that ever memorable oc- 
casion when here "he tarried all night, 5 ' as he 
fled from the face of Esau to Padan-Aram." 

It must have required three or four days for 
Jacob to walk over the distance from Beer- 
sheba to Bethel; and we may reasonably infer 
that this was the fourth night since his depar- 
ture from the paternal tent and doting care of 
a too fond mother, to pursue his lonely and dis- 
tant journey " toward Haran." We have good 
reason to believe that this severe trial had now 
been religiously improved by him; and that, 
thinking on his ways, he had exercised a Godly 
sorrow for all his sins, especially for the un- 
warrantable means resorted to in obtaining the 



243 



GOING UP TO JERUSALEM. 



birth-right blessing of Isaac his father. The 
laws of heaven's kingdom have been virtually 
the same under all dispensations. The pro- 
mise has run, " Thus saith the Lord: to this man 
will I look, even to him that is poor and of a 
contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." 
Jacob can now, with confiding trust, lay him- 
self down with only the stones of the place for 
his pillow, while the angels of the Lord en- 
camped as a protecting wall of fire round about 
him to deliver him. 

Leaving Bethel, we soon reached the village 
of Bireh, the ancient Beeroth. Here are the 
ruins of a kahn, and of a Christian church of 
the times of the Crusaders. At three o'clock, 
P. M., we had Er Earn, or Ramah, on our 
left, and on the south-west Gibeon and Neby 
Samuel; the latter the highest ground in the 
vicinity of Jerusalem, and identified by Dr. 
Robinson as the Mizpah of Scripture. 

We were now, in all probability, on the 
battle-ground of Joshua with Adoni-zedek and 
his confederates, Joshua, 10th chapter. The 
sun, as seen by us, was now standing directly 
over Gibeon, as in the day when Joshua said 
in the sight of all Israel, sun, stand thou still 
upon Gibeon, and thou moon in the valley of 
Ajalon." 

Our path was now ascending for an hour 
over one of the most rocky and desolate regions 



GOIXG UP TO JERUSALEM. 



249 



we had seen. There are in places such masses 
of small and loose stones, they seemed piled as 
for monuments. Our ride to-day has been 
among the mountains of Ephraim. They are 
exceedingly rocky, and the intervening valleys 
are thickly bedded with stones and debris. 

As we slowly advanced, our thoughts ran 
back to those days when the gathering tribes of 
Israel were wont, in long processions, to traverse 
the same path, as they went to attend their an- 
nual festivals, chanting, as they proceeded, those 
devout and beautiful Psalms, the " Songs of De- 
grees" In imitation of so excellent an example, 
we read them aloud with new and unwonted de- 
light. We could hardly realize that we were 
amid such scenes of interest, while we read, " I 
was glad when they said unto me, Let us go in- 
to the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand 
within thy gates, Jerusalem. Jerusalem is 
builded as a city that is compact together; 
whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, 
unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto 
the name of the Lord." 

It was four o'clock, P. M., when we reached 
the high ground on the north of Jerusalem, and 
less than an hour's distance from the " Holy 
City." This was the ancient Scopus (the pros- 
pect) of Josephus, B. W. V: 3, "from whence 
the city already began to be seen, and a plain 
view might be taken of the great Temple.'" 



250 



GOIXG UP TO JERUSALEM. 



Here it was that the legion of Titus espied the 
devoted city and Temple, and made their en- 
campment, on their approach for its subjuga- 
tion, and, as it resulted, utter destruction. 

Each of us in perfect silence urged his steed 
along to catch the first glimpse of those once 
sacred precints. Soon the dome of the Mosque 
of Omar, covering the site of Solomon's Temple, 
met our eye, an early intimation, if one could be 
needed, of the Moslem's sway; and now the 
Dome of the Holy Sepulchre comes into view; 
and ere long the whole city, with its Saracenic 
towers and walls, w r as spread out before us. We 
hastened onward to reach the enclosure ere the 
gates should be shut, at the signal of the setting 
sun. Crossing the valley of Jehoshaphat we pro- 
ceeded to the Damascus Gate on the N. W., 
through which the Shepherds were leading their 
flocks into the city for safety for the night, a 
practice common in all the villages and cities, 
As w r e were not from Damascus, we were re- 
fused admission here, and were compelled to 
proceed to the Jaffa or Bethlehem gate, where 
we arrived just in time to secure admittance. 
Passing through the narrow streets of the city, 
nearly back to the Damascus gate, we en- 
tered the house, and ascended to the comfort- 
able apartments which our Dragoman had pro- 
vided for us, with a Maltese, who, here on the 
sides of Acra, conducts a Hotel. W e much pre- 



GOING UP TO JERUSALEM. 



251 



ferred this to taking up our quarters, as is usual, 
in one of the Convents, To our great pleasure 
we found our dome-roofed apartments, construct- 
ed on the top of the flat-roofed house, overlooked 
a large part of the city, with the Mount of Olives 
in full and unobstructed view before us. 

Few indeed have been the Pilgrims within her 
gates, who have had such cause for grateful ac- 
knowledgment to Zion's King. Most remark- 
able had been the orderings of his good 
providence, under which guidance our journey, 
at this usually rainy season, had been prosecuted 
for twelve successive days under an almost 
cloudless sky, save the morning of the Sabbath, 
which we had spent at Tiberias, 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 

First impressions — Topographic features unchanged — Mo- 
dern Walls — Population of Jerusalem—- The Jews — Their 
place of wailing — Mosque of Omar — Kedron Yalley — A 
Storm-brook — Popular error — Calvary — Church of Holy 
Sepulchre — Miracles of the church — Gross superstitions- 
Greek chapel — Centre of the earth. 

Our first impressions on walking about Jeru- 
salem were an agreeable disappointment to find 
it, as compared with other eastern cities, so well 
built, and surrounded with w r alls and battle- 
ments so imposing. Another source of surprise 
was the limited area occupied by the city. 
Other pre-conceived opinions have to be cor- 
rected as one walks about Zion. 

Few as are the monuments of its ancient 
population or glory that remain, we yet found 
two weeks spent in it and the immediate vicinity, 
quite too short a period to make all the investi- 
gations that were desirable. 

Its ancient topographical features are marked 
and mainly unchanged. Its hills and valleys, 



WALKS ABOUT ZIOiT. 253 

its anciently constructed tombs and pools, afford 
an ample and interesting field for investigation. 
We aimed to see them for ourselves, as well as 
to be availed of the research of those who had 
preceded us. The walls that now surround 
Jerusalem are Saracenic. They were rebuilt, 
of hewn stone, obviously of old materials, and 
well laid up, by order of the Sultan Suleiman, 
A. D. 1542, and have been preserved in good 
condition. The area embraced within their 
limits is the northern half of Mount Zion — the 
- whole of the ancient temple area — Moriah, and 
a portion of Acra and Bezetha, on the west and 
north, the circumference of which, as measured 
by Drs. Robinson and Smith, is two and a half 
miles. One might easily pass around the entire 
circuit in an hour. The ancient walls could 
not have included much more than double this 
amount of territory. Josephus informs us that 
the whole compass of the ancient city was thirty- 
three stadia. The large population sometimes 
gathered within its limits can be easily recon- 
ciled to this, when we take into the account the 
narrow streets and small spaces occupied for 
yard, as well as the modes of social life, which 
would admit of a dense population in a small 
space. The height of the walls is variable, as 
the surface over which they pass is very uneven; 
some portions of them not being over twenty- 
five feet, while on the south and east there are 



254: WALKS ABOUT ZION. 

places two or three times that height. They 
afford an ample protection against assaults from 
the Arab tribes, but would be no obstruction to 
European arms and modern engines of war. 

The population of the city is variously 
estimated. We apprehend it does not much 
exceed the number in Dr. Robinson's calculation 
when here, twelve years previous to our visit. 
He estimated the number then to be about 
eleven thousand, divided as follows: four thousand 
five hundred Mohammedans; three thousand five 
hundred Christians; and three thousand Jews. 
Others have regarded the population as amount- 
ing to full twenty thousand. The Rev. John 
Nicholayson, whose kind attentions deserve a 
grateful recognition, who has resided in Jerusa- 
lem more than twenty-five years in the double 
capacity of chaplain to the British Consulate, 
and as missionary to the Jewish population, in- 
formed us that he thought there were nearly 
seven thousand Jews then residing in the city. 
Large numbers of them are from Germany and 
Poland; others are Spanish Jews, the descend- 
ants of those who were expelled from Spain by 
Ferdinand and Isabella. Many of them come 
here in advanced age, that their bones may be 
deposited on the base and sides of Olivet, nearly 
opposite the temple area, where the stones, 
which indicate the resting-place of multitudes, 
with their Hebrew inscriptions, are laid flatly 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 



255 



on the ground. They are supported, to a great 
extent, by contributions from the Jews residing 
in Europe. Few have been converts from their 
number to Christianity. "We were informed 
that they vigilantly watch one another; and if 
any exhibit the least indications of a disposition 
to inquire into the foundations of the Christian 
faith, they are immediately cut oif from the 
general fund, on which they mainly depend for 
support. It was an affecting sight to witness 
them at the " place of wailing," under the high 
western wall which supports the temple area, 
as they there sat before the very stones which 
Solomon placed in their present position, w T hile 
in sorrowful chants they read aloud from their 
Hebrew volumes their doleful and unavailing 
lament over their national disperson and 
ruin. 

The Mosque of Omar, on Moriah, which for 
the last twelve hundred years has occupied the 
site of the ancient temple, is the most imposing 
object within the city walls. The area enclosed 
is a space of fifteen hundred feet in length, from 
north to south, and one thousand feet wide. 
The Mosque itself is an octagon, surmounted by 
a large dome. Each side of the octagon is 
seventy feet, and has seven windows with stained 
glass, except those facing the cardinal points, 
which have six windows and a door. The body 
of the building is of white marble, and blue- 



256 WALKS ABOUT ZION. 

tinted marble interlarded, above which are 
variegated tiles. A close balustrade surmounts 
the angles of the sides, from which a roof gently 
rises towards the centre to the height of the 
balustrade, over which the large dome rises to 
the height of ninety feet above the paved plat- 
form on which it stands. As viewed from the 
top of the citadel, the site of the ancient Castle 
of Antonia, on the north side of the area, and 
which was the nearest approach we were allowed 
to make, we judged the dome to be about forty- 
five feet high, or one-half the entire elevation. 
There is said to be a spring of water under the 
Mosque, which it is thought may have a com- 
munication with the " fountain of the Virgin," 
in the Kedron Valley below it; and the whole 
area is occupied by ancient subterranean cisterns 
or reservoirs. No Christian can enter the en- 
closure but at the peril of his life. J erusalem 
has very few structures of which a Jewish origin 
can be predicated, if we except the fountains or 
reservoirs, which doubtless had a very early 
origin. The foundations and part of the super- 
structure of the " Tower of David," or Hippicus, 
and a portion of the wall around the temple 
area, are easily identified, by the bevel of the 
stones, as of great antiquity. The Tombs, also, 
in the valleys of Hinnom and Jehoshaphat, 
as well as others in the vicinity of the city, are 
referable to the Jewish period. 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 257 

What if we cannot look upon the once gorge- 
ous temple of Solomon, (or Herod,) on Moriah; 
or visit the palace in which David and Hezekiah 
dwelt on Mount Zion; the eminences on which 
they stood are still distinct, and the general sur- 
face not materially changed. The Valley of the 
Son of Hinnom makes the same circuit around 
Zion, and forms its ancient junction with the 
Valley of Jehoshaphat or Kedron, in its deep 
and rapid descent, over which Olivet still hangs 
its sides, with all its ancient outlines undisturbed. 
The bed of the Kedron is still a dry water-course, 
as it must have ever been, except immediately 
upon seasons of severe rain, for a few brief hours, 
— a fact which the traveller is generally not ex- 
pecting to find. The direct rendering of the 
name Kedron, (the turbid,) from the original 
of the New Testament, where it simply implies 
a storm brook, into our version as the brook 
Kedron, has been the occasion of conveying to 
the mind of the English reader an entirely 
erroneous impression in regard to the character 
of this steep valley. We have not unfrequently 
met with even well-read clergymen, whose pre- 
conceived opinions had affixed impressions 
stronger than all their reading on this subject, 
and who could hardly believe that a perennial 
stream does not gently glide through this steep 
and ragged Wady. The continued prevalence 
of this wide-spread error in regard to an impor- 

R 



258 WALKS ABOUT ZION. 

tant topographical fact, is fraught with unhappy 
influence, and should be corrected. 

We are here warranted in a remark, which 
we make because of its truth, and with no un- 
kind feelings to any one. There are, we feel 
quite assured, doubtless, tens, and more proba- 
bly hundreds of thousands of otherwise gener- 
ally intelligent persons, even in our own land, 
who have received the impression, or have been 
taught to believe, as we ourselves were at a 
period of our early life, that the "Brook Kedron" 
afforded to the Apostles, on the day of Pente- 
cost, a ready, abundant, and convenient resort, 
in the waters of which to immerse the three 
thousand converts on that day of Gospel triumphs. 
It may not be out of place in this connection to 
add, that there is no stream of water, or other 
natural provision, in which it was possible for 
baptism by immersion to have been administered, 
nearer than Jericho, or the Mediterranean; and 
if that was the apostolic mode, it must have 
been performed in private cisterns, or in the public 
reservoirs, which, in their adaptation to such a 
purpose, if it were allowable by the authorities, 
were but little more suitable for such a use. 

The spot of greatest interest in Jerusalem, to 
the Christian, and which he would gladly 
identify, is Calvary, whence all his hopes of heaven 
had, if not their source, their seal and consum- 
mation. The impressions of sacredness, which 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 



259 



would seem almost instinctively to attach to 
many localities, are measurably effaced by 
Mohammedan appropriation, or the gross super- 
stitions engrafted by the ignorant and corrupt 
Christian sects. These remarks are specially 
applicable to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. 
We rejoice in the belief that it does not occupy 
the true site of the crucifixion of our Saviour, 
or of the new tomb of Joseph, in which he was 
laid, and whence he arose from the dead. The 
site which this Church occupies is in a depres- 
sion, a short distance north of Zion, or, more 
properly, on the side of Acra: this spot was 
selected as early as the third century, as the 
scene where those wonderful transactions 
occurred. The popular tradition assumes, that 
at the visit of the Empress Helena, the mother 
of Constantine, which was three hundred years 
subsequent to the event of the crucifixion, the 
true cross was there found. From the body of 
the Church we were conducted down by a pass- 
age of thirty-one steps, into the subterranean 
chapel of Helena. There we were gravely 
shown the very spot where, directed by a dream 
of the Empress, search being made therefore, 
three crosses were found imbedded under a 
shelving rock — the cross of our Saviour, and of 
the two thieves — the inscriptions were gone, and 
which was the true one? To ascertain this, a 
sick lady was brought, and laid upon them sue- 



260 



WALKS ABOUT ZIOX. 



cessively until the true one was reached, when 
she was instantly restored. 

This is one of "the miracles of the Church," 
the recovery of the Holy Cross being the fifth 
miracle of the sort in Mr. Newman's category, 
and the dupes of Rome's feigned infallibility are 
called upon to believe M that the greater part of 
the miracles of Revelation are as little evidence 
of Revelation, at this day, as the miracles of the 
Church are evidence for the Church," i. e., the 
miracles of the Bible have equal, but no more 
credibility than the miracles of the Church. 
The place is fruitful in all manner of wonders. 
We were shown the veritable hole in the rock 
in which the cross of Christ rested at the time 
of the crucifixion; this is not shown to the vul- 
gar multitude, but a temporary one, overlaying 
the true, the kissing of which is equally merito- 
rious, as long as they are ignorant of the fraud. 
The place w 7 here the body was anointed after it 
was taken from the cross, is covered with a 
marble slab, over which are suspended rich 
lamps, belonging to the different sects, claiming 
concurrent rights in the spot. Near at hand 
is showTi the spot where the holy women stood 
at the time of the crucifixion. One chapel 
marks the place where the Centurian was con- 
verted, as he exclaimed, " Truly this was the 
Son of God. 51 

The Sepulchre is the chief point of interest. 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 



261 



This stands directly under the great dome of the 
Church — a kind of rounded chapel, rather ob- 
long in form, some twenty-five feet in length. 
The entrance is by a door on the east, which 
opens into an apartment six or eight feet square. 
From this you enter another apartment, seven 
or eight feet long by six feet w T ide and twenty 
feet high, and lighted from the top. It is lined 
with marble, with pilasters reaching up about 
ten feet, above which it is surrounded by columns. 
On the right hand side, as you enter, is the slab 
marking the spot w'here the body was laid. 
Here there are pictures, lamps, and artificial 
flowers. Into this place the pilgrim, if he has 
money to pay the priest, brings his rosaries, and 
all manner of things, to be blessed. We wit- 
nessed this profanation and mummery. Im- 
mediately east of the sepulchre is the Greek 
chapel, in the floor of w T hich there is a stone 
which indicates the exact centre of the world, 
and the veritable spot from which the dust was 
taken, out of which Adam was made! How this 
was ascertained, we did not stop to learn. But 
enough of this. 

The Church is under the supervision of 
Turkish officers. The presence of a strong 
police of Turks is not sufficient to prevent the 
occurrence of violent if not deadly feuds between 
the different Christian sects, especially of the 
Eomish and Greek Church, on the occurrence 



262 WALKS ABOUT ZIOST. 

of the great festivals. Maundrell visited Jeru- 
salem in April, 1696. The Turkish officers 
then exacted fourteen dollars as entrance money, 
from Frank or European pilgrims. On gaining 
admission, he was confined three days in the 
Church in witnessing the ceremonies of the Holy 
Week. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



WALKS ABOUT ZIOK, 

Walls of the City at different periods of Jewish, history — De- 
molished by Pompey — Bebuilt by Antipater — Third wall 
of Agrippa — Site of Golgotha — Circuit of walls — Upper 
Pool of Gihon — An ancient excavation — Indications of the 
line of "second wall" — Kedron Valley — Olivet — Ancient 
pathway: David's flight over it from Absalom — Gethse- 
mane — Tombs in the Valley — Absalom and others — Xot 
authentic — Height of eastern wall — Elevation of Temple 
area — Moslem judgment column — Evening scene from 
house-top. 

The area embraced within the walls of Jerus- 
alem has varied very materially at different 
periods. Mount Zion was doubtless the strong- 
hold of the Jebusites, from which they were 
expelled by David, who subsequently fortified and 
called it the city of David. It appears to have 
been surrounded by walls at a very early period, 
Both from the Bible and Josephus, we may in- 
fer that the city extended somewhat into the 
intervening valley on the north of Zion, even in 
David's time. The lower city, mentioned by 
Josephus, may, however, have reference to the 
southern slope of Zion. The Temple area on 



264 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 



Mount Moriak, and not unlikely the whole of the 
ridge on the south of it, called Ophel, were 
probably enclosed in Solomon's walls. 

The walls were much strengthened by the ad- 
dition of towers. If they were not extended by 
Uzziah, II Chronicles, 26: 9, Manasseh enlarged 
them so materially, on the west, as to make it ^ 
matter worthy of record by the inspired penman. 

On the return of a portion of the Jews from 
their seventy years' captivity in Babylon, Nehe- 
miah rebuilt the walls evidently on their old 
foundations, Nehemiah, 3: 1-32. The walls of 
the city were again demolished by Pompey, B. C. 
63. Twenty years subsequently, they were re- 
built by Antipater, the father of Herod the Great. 
It was under the reign of Herod, that the city 
attained its greatest magnificence, but not its 
largest extent; as the third or outer wall on the 
western and northerly side of the city, was con- 
structed by Herod Agrippa, the grandson of He- 
rod the Great, some eight or ten years subsequent 
to the crucifixion. He was engaged in this very 
work when death arrested him at Caesarea, in 
the midst of his ambitious and impious career, 
and delivered the infant church from his perse- 
cuting hand. Acts, 12- 20—23. 

To arrive at a satisfactory conclusion as to 
what was the true line of the second and third 
walls, as they are designated by Josephus, has 
been a theme of anxious research by some of the 



WALKS ABOUT ZIOX. 



265 



most distinguished antiquarian writers of the 
present day. On this vexed topic, the true site 
of Calvary is measurably involved; for if the 
walls of the city, at the period of the crucifixion, 
included the area now occupied by the Church 
of the Holy Sepulchre, it is fatal to its identity 
with the true Golgotha. Heb. IS: 12. 

Kortens, a Saxon traveller, who visited J eru- 
salem A. D. 1741, was one of the first to call in 
question this place as the site of the true Calvary. 
He well said of it: " The holy places are brought 
together in this church as in a Earee show. It 
is the greatest spiritual toll-house, as it is the 
most godless place in the whole world." 

Dr. Robinson has more fully and ably than 
any other traveller shown that the ground oc- 
cupied by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre 
must have been within the walls of the city at 
the period in question. His arguments were 
entirely satisfactory to our minds; other sugges- 
tions corroborating his views occurred to us, as 
we examined this interesting subject upon the 
spot. We have before us a beautiful daguer- 
reotype view of Jerusalem, taken from the 
Mount of Olives, directly opposite to the Mosque 
of Omar, on which any one can see perfectly 
presented to the eye, the actual site of the Church 
of the Holy Sepulchre, in its very obvious de- 
pression, and w T e do not see how any unbiassed 
and intelligent individual could look on this to- 



266 



WALES ABOUT ZIOtf. 



pographic scene, presented before him in all its 
reality, and believe that a wall for defence would 
ever have been run, by any sane man, along the 
valley north of Zion, so as to exclude the site of 
the church. The fact too that Agrippa, within 
eight years after the crucifixion, found it neces- 
sary to extend the walls on the north, so as to 
embrace an area nearly as large as the whole 
enclosure of the previous city, on the theory that 
the walls then in existence excluded the Holy 
Sepulchre and adjacent territory, shows conclu- 
sively that the site occupied by the church must 
have been in the centre of a dense population at 
the period in question. 

The traveller in Jerusalem generally makes 
the circuit of the walls one of his first efforts in 
exploration. This, with various diversions of 
his route, will often be repeated in visiting locali- 
ties of special interest in proximity to the city. 

We have full notes of our various itinerances, 
which were taken down at the time. So much, 
however, has been written on Jerusalem, in re- 
cent years, by other travellers, that we do not 
deem it proper to trouble our readers with 
many observations of our own in these relations. 
On our first excursion of this kind, we left the 
Jaffa, or Bethlehem gate, which is situated just 
at the northern extremity of Mount Zion, and 
has, we think, without doubt, been the place of 
one of the portals of the city since the days of 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 267 

David. In close proximity to this gate is the 
traditional castle of David, — the tower of Hip- 
picus, of J osephus. The lower part of the struc- 
ture is of great antiquity. If not of earlier 
origin, it may be referred to the period of He- 
rod the Great. 

I estimated the depth of the Valley of Hin- 
nom, immediately before the J aflfa gate, to be 
nearly seventy feet. The valley has a rapid rise 
as it extends in a north-west direction to the 
distance of seven or eight hundred yards, when 
it terminates at the upper pool of Gihon, there 
situated at the head of the valley. This basin 
is without doubt that referred to in II Chron. 
32: SO, and Isa. 7: 3, the waters of which Heze- 
kiah probably connected by a small acqueduct 
with the pool that now bears his name, and 
which we find within the city walls, a short dis- 
tance west of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. 
We did not deem it necessary to take measure- 
ments of the capacity of the basin, as this had 
been accurately done to our hand. It is three 
hundred and sixteen feet long, two hundred feet 
wide, and eighteen feet deep. Its sides are per- 
pendicular, being laid up with hewn stone and 
cement. At one or more of the corners, there 
are steps leading to the bottom of the reservoir. 
It has been supposed that it may have been an- 
ciently supplied with water from a spring in the 
vicinity, the waters of which were diverted at an 



268 WALKS ABOUT ZION. 

early period of the regal history of the Jews, by 
a now hidden acqueduct to the temple area, and 
thence to the Pool of the Virgin, in the Kedron 
Valley, and so to the Pool of Silo am. It now 
receives the drainage of the higher grounds ad- 
jacent. At the time we were there, it had but 
little water in it. It has been so little used for 
many centuries, it is perhaps measurably impair- 
ed, and does not retain the water. Maundrell 
says it was well stored with water when he was 
here, March, A, D. 1696. There is at the pre- 
sent day a large Turkish burying-ground immedi- 
ately north of the Pool. Tradition as well as 
history points out this locality as the region of 
the Assyrian camp — II Kings, 18: 17. Turn- 
ing to the city wall, and following its course 
northward, we noticed numerous stones with be- 
velled edges 3 as well as the ends of granite 
colums woked into it. After passing the depres- 
sion at the Damascus gate w 7 e came to a wide and 
deep excavation in the limestone rock, which 
must have furnished a large quantity of material 
for w r alls or edifices. On the left side was the 
rocky elevation, in which is the traditional grot- 
to or cave of Jeremiah. On the right side, the 
city wall is built up from the top of the excava- 
tion, the side of w 7 hich forms a part of the bar- 
rier. I paused here with great interest to 
survey the scene; since, after a careful examina- 
tion of the elevations and curvatures of the strata. 



WALKS ABOUT ZTON. 



269 



on both sides of this remarkable and ancient 
excavation, and finding them perfectly to corres- 
pond, I entertained no doubt, that I had before me 
a clearly identified point, on the true northern line 
of the " Second Wall*' Subsequent examinations 
only confirmed my convictions of the correct- 
ness of my first impressions on this interesting 
topic, and its very interesting localities. 

On the grounds upon the western and north- 
ern side of the city, there are many olive trees. 

In our slow progress it was nearly an hour 
from the time of our leaving the JafiFa gate, be- 
fore we reached the north-eastern angle of the 
city wall, which we followed south to its only 
open portal, St. Stephen's Gate. The space 
between the eastern wall and the steep sides of 
the Kedron valley, is occupied as a Turkish 
burial ground. It varies in width between one 
and four hundred feet, or even more. At this 
point the valley is not far from one hundred feet 
deep. Here Olivet was all revealed before us, 
as its precipitous sides and base overhang the 
valley, in its rapid descent. The character of 
the valley indicates clearly that this has always 
been the place for crossing it, to the Mount. It 
is quite safe to infer that the same pathway 
over Olivet to Bethany and Jericho, has been 
very nearly followed since the memorable day that 
David and his faithful adherents in grief and tears 
fled over it, toward the wilderness, through fear 



270 "WALKS ABOUT ZION. 

of that unnatural and rebellious son Absalom. 
" And David went up by the ascent of Olivet, 
and wept as he went up, and had his head cover- 
ed, and he went barefooted: and all the people 
that were with him covered every man his head, 
and they went up weeping as they went up." II 
Samuel, 15: SO. More than a thousand years 
later in time's progress, David's Son and Lord in 
the days of his flesh, often emerged from the 
city, and with his chosen disciples descended 
nearly or quite the same steep pathway, as they 
went forth over the Kedron and around the high 
side of Olivet to Bethany. On the level space 
at the foot of the Mount, which we see enclosed 
to indicate the spot, or in close proximity to it, 
was doubtless that garden to which ofttimes he 
repaired, and we look down upon those very 
grounds of Gethsemane, where, for us, and our 
sins, in an agony of bitter grief, he sweat as it 
were great drops of blood, on that dark night of 
moral interest involving the world's destiny; 
when treachery betrayed him, and his friends all 
fled. 

"We noticed, as we made our progress south- 
ward, along under the wall, that many of the 
stones in the foundation, adjoining the area of 
the temple, were very large. On a subsequent 
visit we measured some of them, that we found 
w T ere twenty-two feet long and five feet in thick- 
ness. They are bevelled at the edges, and were * 



WALKS ABOUT ZION". 



271 



evidently placed in their present positions by 
Solomon or Herod. Here the ground falls off 
rapidly, and the walls are raised proportionably 
high, so that at the southern corner we estimat- 
ed the height to be full seventy-five feet, as they 
appeared in our first examination. The walls 
must be very thick, as they sustain the wait of 
the earth on the temple area, which, at the 
southern end, is ascertained to have been raised 
sixty feet above the ground, on the south-eastern 
exterior corner of the wall. This was done to 
secure a perfectly level space for the Temple 
grounds. The walls at this point, seen from the 
interior, as they now exist, rise sixteen feet above 
the interior area, making the whole height of the 
wall at this corner seventy-six feet. The valley 
below is one hundred and fifty feet deep; mak- 
ing two hundred and twenty-six feet from the 
top of the wall to the bottom of the valley which 
it overhangs. High up in the wall, near this 
point, a long granite column projects out, on 
which the Moslem believes that Mohammed is 
to appear and judge the world, to be assembled 
in the deep valley below. 

Immediately east from this point, down in the 
valley, are the reputed tombs of Jehoshaphat, 
Absalom, Jacob and Zechariah. They were 
excavated from the solid rock at the base of Olivet, 
and are remarkable monuments, belonging to a 
period quite as far back as the Christian era, 



272 WALKS ABOUT ZTOtf. 

and said to be much in character like the monu- 
ments of Petra. At a subsequent visit we ex- 
amined them minutely, and were greatly 
impressed with their magnitude and the labour 
involved in their excavation. The tomb of Ab- 
salom is the most imposing, being twenty-four 
feet square, and dome-topped with mason work; 
its entire height being forty feet. 

The Rev. Mr. Nicolayson, I found, was dis- 
posed to regard this as an authentic monument 
of Absalom; but, in view of the evidence against 
it, we think there is little probability that either 
it, or those named as adjacent, had an existence 
earlier than about the time of Herod the Great. 
The names by which they are designated were 
conferred palpably by the creative power of tradi- 
tion in the middle ages, when imagination sup- 
plied so many of their facts. We pursued our 
explorations on this occasion, until we reached 
the Tyropoeon valley, when a shower arrested 
our further progress, and we returned through 
Zion gate, over that mount to our quarters in the 
city. 

At evening the flat roof of our house afforded 
an inviting position to look out on the bright 
constellations, which at the season so gorgeously 
bespangle the clear ether of the canopy above us. 
In other months we had, while in the tropics of 
the now to us far west, looked off upon Sirius, 
Orion and their attendant orbs, as they lustred 



WALKS ABOUT ZIOX. 273 

the heavens in all their beaming and brilliant 
glory; but they never seemed half as near to us 
as now. Here, with the darkened outlines of 
Olivet before us, and in view of the mighty scene 
above, and our less than nothingness in the con- 
trast, we had impressively called to our remem- 
brance the contemplations of David, recorded in 
the eight Psalm, and penned, as we could not but 
think, at this very season, vrith the same bright 
constellations in his eye, and we instinctively 
echoed his exclamation: " When I consider the 
heavens the work of thy fingers; the moon and 
the stars which thou hast ordained; What is 
man that thou art mindful of him, and the son 
of man, that thou visitest him?" S 



✓ 



CHAPTEE XXVIII. 

WALKS ABOUT ZION. 

A ride in company with Rev. J. Nicolayson — Valley of Hin- 
nom — Lower pool of Gihon — Solomon there anointed 
king — Ancient Tombs— The Aceldama — Well of En Rogel 
— Pool of Siloam— Fountain of the Virgin — Ride over 
Olivet to Bethany — Return over the summit to Church of 
the Ascension — Scopus — Return to city — Walk to Olivet 
— Tomb of the Virgin — Gethsemane — Church of the 
Ascension— View from Olivet, 

At an early period of our visit in Jerusalem, 
we enjoyed a most interesting ride in company 
with the Rev. John Nicolayson and his daugh- 
ter. We left the city at the J affa gate, where 
we turned to the left, and descended the valley 
of Hinnom. We soon crossed the small 
acqueduct, which conveys the water from the 
pools of Solomon, beyond Bethlehem, to the 
temple area — just below which, in the narrow 
valley, we came to the lower pool of Gihon. 
This pool received the surplus water from the 
upper pool, of the same name to which we have 
referred in a previous chapter. H may have 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 275 

been also supplied from the acqueduct of Solo- 
mon. It was formed simply by constructing a 
strong wall at each end of the space occupied 
across the rocky bottom of the narrow wady. 
Here Solomon was conducted by command of 
David, his father, to be anointed king. " And 
they blew a trumpet, and all the people said, God 
save king Solomon." The rending and joyous 
shouts of the people were heard by Adonijah 
and his confederates at their feast at the well of 
En Rogel, in the valley below, and quickly dissi- 
pated the wicked and ambitious plots they had 
assembled there to carry into execution. 1 
Kings, 1: 32-49. 

The sides of Zion here are without the walls, 
and are under culture. On our visits we saw 
the Arabs, as they were there fulfilling the pre- 
dications of the prophet, "Zion shall be ploughed 
as a field." We soon had upon our left the 
" Hill of Evil Council," the traditional residence 
of the high priest Oaiaphas. The precipitous 
sides of this high ridge upon the south of the 
valley, and bordering it, are pierced with num- 
erous tombs of great antiquity. Some of them 
have Greek inscriptions, indicating that they 
were tombs of strangers. At a subsequent 
visit, we spent considerable time here in explor- 
ing this ancient necropolis. Some of the tombs 
have many compartments. They were at one 
period inhabited by anchorites, and as chapels 



276 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 



for the Greek monks. They are now all 
empty and disused. There are many olive 
trees along the terraces. A little further down 
is the aceldema, or space on the high ridge, 
from very early times designated as the " Field 
of Blood." The charnel-house, into which the 
bodies of deceased persons were anciently pre- 
cipitated, is a large and massive building over a 
deep excavation. It is now covered with a 
Saracenic stone arch. We looked down into 
it from an opening in the western end. The 
bottom contains few if any remains of human 
beings. In surveying the interior, I discovered 
quite a large piece of heavy Roman reticulated 
wall, on the south interior side of the receptacle. 
This fact, not observed by other travellers, so 
far as it has come to my knowledge, carries 
back the origin of this repository of the dead, 
without a peradventure, to the early periods of 
the Christian era. As we walked along the 
margin of these precipitous ledges, which over- 
hang this valley of Tophet, Jer. 7: 31, we clearly 
saw how to reconcile the accounts respecting 
the tragic end of J udas Iscariot, which we find 
in the gospels, with Acts, 1: 18. If the cord 
by which the despairing man suspended himself 
in the perpetration of this felo de se was attached 
to the brittle limb of an olive tree, near the 
margin of these precipitous ledges, when vitality 
ceased the ponderous weight of the body might 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 



277 



well break the limb, and " falling headlong, he 
burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels 
gushed out.''' 

Pursuing our ride down the valley, at a short 
distance below its junction with the Kedron 
valley, we came to a large and deep well, now 
called the well of Job or JSTehemiah. It is 
clearly the En Rogel of Josh. 18: 16. Turning 
from this, up in a northern direction, at the dis- 
tance of eight hundred feet or more, we came to 
the Pool of Siloam. This pool is a spot of 
peculiar interest, as identified with the miracul- 
ous cure by our Saviour, of the blind man from 
his birth, as recorded by John, 9. We cannot 
better describe this fountain than by adopting 
the language of another, whose accurate descrip- 
tion our own observation confirmed. " Here, 
within the Tyropoeon, is the Pool of Siloam, a 
small and deep reservoir, into which the water 
flows, from under the rocks, out of a smaller 
basin hewn in the solid rock a few feet farther 
up, to which is a descent by a few steps. This 
is w r holly an artificial work; and the water comes 
to it through a subterraneous channel, from the 
fountain of Mary, higher up in the valley of 
Jehoshaphat, The hill or ridge Ophel, lying 
between the Tyropoeon and the valley of Jeho- 
shaphat, ends here just over the Pool of Siloam, 
in a long and steep point of rock, forty or fifty 
feet high. 15 While we stood under this high 



278 WALKS ABOUT ZION. 

ledge, we thought of that refuge described by 
the prophet, as " the shadow of a great rock in 
a weary land." 

The principal part of the water which flows 
from the fountain of the Virgin, through the 
subterranean passage referred to, is conducted 
along under this high ledge, " in a small channel 
hewn in the rocky bottom, and is led off to irri- 
gate gardens of fig and other fruit trees and 
plants, lying in terraces quite down to the bot- 
tom of the valley of Jehoshaphat — a descent of 
forty or fifty feet. The reservoir is fifty-three 
feet long, eighteen feet broad, and nineteen feet 
deep" The lower end is broken down consider- 
ably. There are columns built in the side- 
walls, and other indications that it was formerly 
roofed over. At the time of Dr. Robinson's 
visit, there was no water in the reservoir. It 
was nearly or quite filled to its present capacity 
when we visited the place. 

Leaving the fountain of Siloam, and passing 
around the high rocky termination of Ophal, we 
ascended the Kedron valley to the fountain of 
the Virgin, or Mary, as it is at present desig- 
nated. This remarkable fountain is situated 
on the side of the deep valley, about six hundred 
feet south of the wall of the temple area; and, as 
we have before intimated, it has been conjec- 
tured by Dr. Robinson that it has a connection 
with a fountain supposed to exist under the 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 



279 



Mosque of Omar, on the site of Solomon's tem- 
ple. Its waters, which have an irregular flow, 
are conducted to the fountain of Siloam by a 
subterranean channel of seventeen hundred and 
fifty feet in length, excavated the entire distance 
through the solid rock. Drs. Eobinson and 
Smith were the first to demonstrate this inter- 
esting fact, by performing the perilous exploit 
of creeping through from fountain to fountain. 
There are several considerations to induce the 
belief that this is the true Bethesda. John, 5: 
2. It is reached by a descent of two flights of 
steps, the first having sixteen, w r hen a platform 
ten or twelve feet wide is reached; the other of 
ten steps; the whole depth being twenty-five 
feet, The artificial basin is all of twelve feet 
long, four or five feet wide, and six to eight feet 
deep. 

In passing up the valley we noticed vast 
accumulations of ancient debris. Mr. Nicolay- 
son remarked that in the more than twenty-five 
years that he had lived in Jerusalem, he had 
never seen a drop of water in the Kedron. On 
reaching the tombs of Absalom and others, w T e 
crossed a bridge to the eastern side of the valley, 
and proceeding a short distance beyond them, 
we turned to the right, directly upon the side 
of Olivet, and pursued the ancient southern path- 
way on the left or north of the Mount of Offence 
to Bethany; where we arrived at half- past three 



280 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 



o'clock in the afternoon. Here we found a 
small village and the ruins of a large edifice, 
which tradition, without the least foundation, 
indicates as the house of Lazarus. A short dis- 
tance north from this, in the valley, is a deep 
cave, excavated in the rock, which is shown as 
the tomb of Lazarus. We descended into it 
with torch lights by a passage of twenty-six 
steps. Eemounting our horses, we now rode 
by a more northerly track, directly to the sum- 
mit of the Mount of Olives, where we dismount- 
ed and visited the church of the Ascension. 
We had previously visited the Mount, and pur- 
pose to present to our readers, before we close 
our chapter, some of our impressions, derived 
on this interesting spot. On the ride we have 
been describing, after leaving the Church, we 
proceeded northerly, along the summit of the 
ridge, to the ancient Scopus. We then made a 
deflection westward and south to the city wall, 
around which we passed, and entered the Dam- 
ascus Gate, just before the setting of the sun, the 
signal for its close. 

It is not necessary here to describe our sen- 
sations when our eyes first rested upon J erusa- 
lem, and its surrounding hills. A sight for 
which so many millions have fruitlessly sighed, 
might well rivet our attention and absorb our 
thoughts! Arrived within the sacred precints, 
ere we had much "walked about Zion," or con- 



WALKS ABOUT ZTOtf. 281 

sidered her natural bulwarks of strength, we 
were attracted on the sides and to the summit 
of Olivet, that tripple-topped Mount, so often 
trodden by the Man of sorrow, as he went forth 
on errands of love and mercy. With this ob- 
ject before us, we early left our Hotel on the 
sides of Acra, and entering the Via Dolorosa, 
the way of grief, or street, which tradition, of 
quite modern origin, says, conducted from 
Pilate's house, or the Castle of Antonio, on the 
northern side of the Temple area, to the place 
of crucifixion; now occupied by the Church of 
the Holy Sepulchre. Passing through St. 
Stephen's gate, we crossed the bridge over the 
dry bed of Kedron, and proceeded directly up 
the path that conducts to the central, or highest 
summit of Olivet. Immediately after crossing 
this bridge we had on our left the half-sunken 
chapel and reputed tomb of the Virgin Mary. 
Here, as usual in like cases, is a grotto excav- 
ated in the rock, and regarded in the traditionary 
legends as the tomb of the Virgin. We did not 
take the trouble of entering it; we noticed, how- 
ever, that it has not grown much since Sir J ohn 
Maundeville was here, A. D. 1322. " Also in 
the myddle place," he says, " of the vale of 
Josaphathe, is the chirche of oure Lady; and it 
is forty-three degrees under the earth unto the 
sepulcre of oure Lady. And our Lady was of 
Age when she dyed seventy- two Zeer. And 



282 WALKS ABOUT ZION. 

beside the sepulcre of our Lady is an Awtier, 
(altar) where our Lord forzaf Seynt Petir all his 
synnes. And from thens toward the west, 
under an Awtier, is a welle that comethe out of 
the Ryvere of Paradys." The fountain of the 
virgin is doubtless here the reference. " — — 
and nathales men seyn there commonly that the 
earth hathe so been cloven sythe the time that 
our Lady was there buryed; and zit men seyn 
there that it waxethe and growethe every day 
without en doubte." We make this quotation 
as a curious illustration of the popular legends 
of that period, if not of this. 

Just on our right and south of this tomb of 
Mary is the spot enclosed to designate Geth- 
semane. Before we reached the top of the 
mount, we came to the Church of the Ascension, 
said by tradition to occupy the very spot where 
our Saviour " lifted up his hands and blessed his 
disciples; and it came to pass, while he blessed 
them, that he was parted from them.'' Here in 
a small octagonal building, supported with 
marble columns, with elaborate capitals, the 
spaces between the columns having been filled 
in, we were shown an indentation, or foot-print, 
in the solid rock, which the monk in attendance 
seriously assured us, was made by our Saviour 
as he left the earth. This indentation is sur- 
rounded by a small curb. A hole in the floor, 
they say, marks the impression made by his 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 283 

staff. We need hardly say that our fund of 
credulity was not so capacious as to accept all 
this, especially as we believe the spot, if it were 
of any great importance to know it, should be 
sought and found on the ridge considerably 
nearer to Bethany. Luke, 24: 50. A few 
hundred feet beyond the church we came to the 
summit of Olivet. Here we found a Turkish 
burying-ground, surrounding a small wely, or 
saint's tomb. This point is twenty-five hun- 
dred and thirty-six feet above the Mediterranean. 
Here Jerusalem was mostly hidden from our 
sight, under the swelling sides of the mountain. 
If the city be hid from one's view, the mountains 
round about Zion are all conspicuous in their 
nakedness. Standing on this elevated point for 
observation, one may see a panorama of absorb- 
ing interest. 

In the south, at the distance of eight miles 
or more, you will see an isolated, cone-shaped hill, 
with which you will feel surprised that you are 
not better historically acquainted. It is known 
as the Frank mountain, the Herodium, where 
Herod built a citadel, and where his body found 
a sepulchre. But directing your eyes eastward, 
you may view the high table land, or mountains 
of Moab, Ammon, and Gilead, on the east side 
of the Jordan, with a small portion of the 
northerly part of the Dead Sea, and the adjac- 
ent valley of the Jordan. 



284 



"WALKS ABOUT ZION. 



Between these distant and interesting objects 
and yourself, you may observe an extensive 
region of high, steep and naked hills, stretching 
along on the western sides of the plains of 
Jericho and the Dead Sea, presenting one wide 
field of barrenness. This desolate region is 
" the wilderness of Judea." These lofty peaks 
bear conclusive evidence that they have ever 
borne the same sterile aspect; not a solitary 
village occupies their summits or slopes; no 
verdant forest or field clothes their sides; no cool 
perennial stream refreshes those deep valleys. 
Would you go down from Jerusalem to Jericho, 
your path will lie directly over this wide waste; 
nor will you find it any the more inviting on a 
near approach. You may, perchance, see the 
dark curtains of a rude Bedouin's tent stretched 
along on the hill-side, and here and there his 
flock of black goats or sheep gathering a scanty 
subsistence from the shrubs that occasionally 
appear. 

Nor has the region lost in the lapse of ages 
another peculiarity of its ancient character. If 
you attempt to traverse it unprotected, you will 
be quite sure to "fall among thieves." The top 
of Olivet and other localities around Jerusalem, 
you may visit with comparative safety; but 
farther than Bethany, on the road to Jericho, 
you must not venture without the presence and 
protection of the sheikh of the Bedouins of the 



WALKS ABOUT ZIOX. 



285 



Jordan valley. Our object in the ensuing 
chapter will be to conduct our readers with us 
through this desolate region, and there in the 
wilderness of Judea to find the pulpit of John 
the Baptist. 



CHAPTEE XXIX. 

JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 

The mission of the Baptist — -Place selected for its prosecution 
— Open to Infidel objections — Progressive confirmation of 
Scripture — Journey to Jericho — Bedouin protectors — 
Visit to G-ethsemane— Old olive trees — Arrival at Bethany 
— Scenery in view — Caves and tombs— Fountain of the 
Apostles — The Good Samaritan — Desolate region — Be- 
douin tent — Wilderness of Judea — Naked hills — Predic- 
tions of Isaiah — Pulpit of John— The way-side on this 
ancient high- way in the wilderness — "VYady Kelt — The 
scene in view — Historic retrospect — Preaching of John — 
Adaptation of the scene — Prophecy fulfilled — Objections 
refuted. 

We learn from the sacred record that the 
mission of the Baptist was at least twofold — a 
herald, to announce the coming of Messiah, 
" Prepare ye the way of the Lord," — and a wit- 
ness, " to bear witness of the light, that all men 
through him might believe." 

To the casual reader it may seem strange 
that a wilderness should have been selected by 
Infinite Wisdom for the accomplishment of such 
designs of mercy, and a sceptic might ask 
questions in regard to it, to which every lover 



JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 



287 



of Revelation might not be prepared to give a 
satisfactory solution, and " vindicate the ways 
of God to man." 

It is, however, a cheering consideration, that 
new and striking confirmation of the inspired 
authority of the sacred Scriptures is in pro- 
gress constantly developed. What seemed 
contradictory is found harmonious; what ob- 
scure, full of light; what unreasonable and in- 
credible to the infidel reader, founded on reasons 
the most satisfactory and conclusive. Thus the 
investigations and discoveries in astronomy, 
geology and history, are all made tributary to 
the sacred text, nor are these fields exhausted. 

The Sheikhs of the region between J erusalem 
and Jericho, demand from each person of a party, 
making an excursion to the Jordan and Dead 
Sea, from one to two hundred piastres, a sum 
equal to five or ten dollars, as an equivalent to 
the privilege of robbing you by the way, and for 
the sum stipulated, you may enjoy their com- 
pany, and safe conduct. You are expected, 
however, to furnish them, as a gratuity, the 
price of a sheep, for their eating on the tour. 
This compensation may appear to some of our 
readers rather an exorbitant sum, for the 
society it secures to the pilgrim. It is not, 
however, as much as was formerly paid, when 
money was worth more than at the present day. 
Maundrell visited the Jordan, on the 30th 



288 



JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 



March, A. D. 1698. The price then exacted 
for a similar service, was twelve dollars. 

The morning was clear and delightful; and 
agreeable to previous arrangements, Sheikh 
Mustapha was at our hotel, with a brother, as a 
part of our escort, at an early hour. Mustapha 
is a genuine Bedouin, thirty-five years old, tall 
and straight, having for an Arab an unusually 
fine and benevolent countenance, though of 
rather sad expression. 

Pack-horses loaded, and every thing arranged, 
at nine o'clock, we were all mounted, and ready 
! for our journey. We passed round into the 
Via Dolorosa, and left the city at St. Stephen's 
i gate. As we descended the Kedron valley, we 
; noticed that the person in charge of the Garden 
I of Gethsemane was in the grounds. We there- 
fore rode directly to its gate, having before made 
several unsuccessful attempts to get into the 
enclosure. We now fortunately gained a ready 
admission. The area is about two hundred 
feet square, surrounded by a wall ten feet 
high. There are eight old olive trees in the 
ground, two or more of them the largest we 
had any where seen. We measured one of 
them, some three or four feet from the ground, 
and found it nineteen feet in circumference. 
Had the line been placed near the ground, it 
would have been quite twenty-four feet. To 
all appearance these trees are from five to eight 



JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 



289 



hundred years old. Niebuhr was here, one 
hundred and twelve years before us. He speaks 
of these very trees, as having " been there in 
our Saviours time. 5 ' That this certainly iden- 
tifies the very spot where the Kedeemer often re- 
sorted with his disciples, and where at his 
Father's hand he consented to drink the bitter 
cup, which was connected with the world's re- 
demption, we cannot certainly say. This much 
seems to be certain, that from the nature of the 
grounds, it must evidently very nearly define 
that place of sacred interest to every pious 
heart. 

After leaving the garden, we pursued the old 
track of ages toward Bethany. Here, on the 
sides of Olivet, we were joined by quite a large 
addition to our Bedouin escort. 

As you pass along around the swelling sides 
of the southern slope of Olivet, you will be 
tempted to stop, even if you have done it again 
and again before, at the same point. "We were 
doubtless treading over the very pathway where 
the compassionate Jesus " beheld the city and 
wept over it," saying, " If thou hadst known, 
even thou, at least in this thy day, the things 
which belong unto thy peace! 15 Luke 19 : 41. 
Jerusalem may here be seen from one of the 
most desirable points for observation. 

Turning from the interesting field of vision 

before us, and proceeding on our journey, in half 

T 



290 JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 

an hour we reached Bethany, now a poor vil- 
lage of twenty to thirty small houses. Although 
the site is depressed much below Olivet, it is on 
the whole pleasantly situated. Here we had 
still a good view of the naked wilderness of 
Judea, which we were about to enter. The 
valley of the Jordan, a small space of the Dead 
Sea, and a wide extent of the mountains of 
Moab beyond, are full in view. This was the 
" town of Mary and her sister Martha: — Now 
Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Laz- 
arus. 5 ' Thrice blessed and happy that family 
circle of all of whom this can be said, because 
all of them have chosen that good part that shall 
not be taken away from them! 

The village of Bethany is situated on the 
western side of a very steep hill. On crossing 
a narrow gorge at its base, we ascended at once 
on a hill composed of strata of lime-stone rock 3 
even with the surface, in which we particularly 
noticed both caves and tombs. The distance 
from the site of the village would well corres- 
pond to the account given of the place where 
Lazarus was interred, and over which Jesus 
wept with his afflicted sisters, as he announced 
those wondrous words to challenge their confid- 
ing trust: " I am the resurrection and the life, 
he that believeth in me, though he were dead, 
yet shall he live." Leaving these scenes of 
peculiar interest, we had before us a long, steep 



JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 291 

and rocky descent, where, in many places, the an- 
cient chariot track is seen cut through the ledge, 
and in about half an hour more we arrived at 
the bottom of a deep and narrow valley, at the 
entrance of which is an old ruined Kahn. and 
near at hand a fine fountain of water, called 
" the Fountain of the Apostles," because tradi- 
tion asserts that Jesus and his disciples often 
resorted thither. As this is the only natural 
spring of water in the whole route to Jericho, 
there can be little doubt that it is the spot in- 
dicated in 41 the parable of the good Samaritan," 
to which he is represented as having conveyed 
the object of his pity, who had fallen among 
thieves. Luke 10: 34. 

The region on which we had now entered 
would seem a fit home for the thief and the 
robber. Our ride on leaving the Kahn was for 
some distance along a dry water gorge, soon 
after which all vestiges of fertility disappeared, 
and such a scene of desolation followed as we 
have nowhere met. At a few minutes before 
noon we noticed a Bedouin tent on a distant 
mountain side. Occasionally we saw the Be- 
douin with his small flock of black goats, 
gathering a scanty subsistence from the naked 
ridges. 

At twelve o'clock, M., we stopped to lunch 
in a narrow valley, where we found a small 
Nubk-tree, affording us but a poor shade from 



292 



JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 



the vertical and burning sun. In half an hour 
we remounted our horses to pursue our journey. 
We were now in the midst of the wilderness of 
Judea, " a dry and thirsty land, where no water 
is," a wilderness of naked and thirsty hills. 
Soon after leaving our resting-place, we met a 
long train of Abyssinian pilgrims returning 
from the Jordan. Some of them were tall and 
fine featured. At one o'clock, P. M., we 
were in the midst of wild gorges. Here I no- 
ticed some remarkable contortions in the strata 
of lime-stone rock, which might well arrest the 
attention of the geologist. Much of our way 
now r lay over " rough," rocky and " crooked 
paths." and along the verge of deep ravines. 
N ow and then, from some hill-top, we caught a 
view 7 of the mountains of Moab, east of the 
Dead Sea. The whole distance from Jerusalem 
to Jericho is less than twenty miles. To ac- 
complish this journey occupied us from seven 
to eight hours. We have now conducted our 
readers over more than half the distance, and 
fear w r e have conveyed a very inadequate im- 
pression of the region traversed, or of what 
remains unexplored. The title of our chapter 
indicates that we have in this excursion a special 
topic which we would desire here to illustrate — 
John in the Wilderness. We shall, therefore, 
somew r hat change the character of our narrative 
in what remains. If the reader have the cour- 



JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 



293 



age to ride with us, as we pursue our way along 
this old track, travelled by a hundred genera- 
tions, it will often be with difficulty and danger 
your horse selects a place to rest his foot. At 
length we arrive over a rocky mountain ledge, 
where we must pause and survey the scene. 

On your left you look down the deep recesses 
of a yawning gulf — the Wady Kelt, and you 
find yourself on the side of a mountain twelve 
or fifteen hundred feet high, overhanging the 
valley of the Jordan. Now take your Bible 
and read the fortieth chapter of Isaiah. You 
will have little doubt as to what scenery the in- 
spired prophet had in his thoughts when he 
penned the graphic predictions in the first nine 
verses of the chapter. 

The region over which we have travelled, and 
amid which we still linger, was doubtless the 
prototye medium for his inspired annunciations. 
The whole valley is before you, and what scenes 
of wonder have been here enacted? Instinctively 
you trace the high table land of Moab and Am- 
nion, and inquire, Where is the mountain 
Nebo, to which " Moses went up, from the plains 
of Moab — to the top of Pisgah that is over 
against Jericho?" Jebel-es-Salt or Mount 
Gilead appears conspicuous above the rest; but 
this would seem too far north to suit the nar- 
rative. We must wait the researches of other 
travellers on these ranges, to select an elevation 



294 



JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 



that will comport with the sacred record. Our 
special aim is now to illustrate another subject. 
If we mistake not, you are treading near the 
Pulpit of the Baptist, but we must pause still 
longer to survey the scene. 

On our right, at six or eight miles in the dis- 
tance, is seen the northerly portion of the Dead 
Sea, that salt, bitter and heavy water, which 
covers " the cities of the plain;" a warning to 
wicked communities in every age, fic set forth 
for an example, suffering the vengeance of eter- 
nal fire." 

In the distance, apparently quite under the 
mountain ranges of Moab and Ammon, a nar- 
row belt of foliage marks the devious path of 
the Jordan, and you look down over the place 
where the Tribes of Israel were convened, and 
at Joshua's command, the Priests bearing the 
ark, advanced to the edge of the then full banks 
of the Jordan; and it came to pass as their feet 
dipped in its turbit and rapid waters, they re- 
tired, and all the people passed over on dry 
ground. J oshua 3: 14. 

There too, at a later day, "Elijah took his 
mantle and wrapped it together and smote the 
waters, and they were divided hither and thither/' 
so that he and Elisha passed over on dry 
ground. 

A little further on, no doubt considerably 
short of the mountain range, Elijah was caught 



JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 295 

up to heaven in a chariot of fire, and Elisha 
"took up the mantle of Elijah, that fell from 
him, and went back, and stood by the bank of 
Jordan, 5 ' " and he took the mantle of Elijah and 
smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord 
God of Elijah? And when he also had smitten 
the waters, they parted hither and thither, and 
Elisha went over." 

In the plain at our feet, a mile north of the 
foot of the mountain on which we stand, the 
beautiful " Fountain of Elisha" sends forth its 
healing streams, which give nearly all there is 
of fertility and cheerfulness in the wide plain 
you behold: a fine gushing spring, sending up 
five or six hundred gallons of water per minute, 
sparkling from a bed twenty feet wide by thirty 
feet long, and hurried away in a stream several 
feet wide, and thence conducted in various 
directions over the surface of the ground for 
two miles in extent. " So the waters were 
healed unto this day, according to the saying of 
Elisha which he spake." 2 Kings 2: 19. 

Near to these western hills once stood Jericho 
of old, "the city of Palm trees,'' around 
which in silent and solemn procession the tribes 
marched for seven successive days. " And it 
came to pass, on the seventh day, that they rose 
early, about the dawning of the day, and com- 
passed the city after the same manner seven 
times, and the people shouted a great shout, and 



296 



JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 



the walls fell down flat, so that the people went 
up into the city, every man straight before him, 
and they took the city/' no vestige of which now 
remains. The dry trunk of one solitary "Palm 
Tree" stands in the plain. 

And to finish the detail, this plain at our feet 
embosoms the mouldering ruins of the palaces 
of "Herod the Great." The foundations of 
reticulated stone-work, peculiar to the Romans 
and the Roman period, there seen, perhaps com- 
posed a part of his palace, and may well define 
the site of the Jericho of his time. At the age 
> of three-score and ten, that wretched tyrant, 

who a few months before, jealous of a rival, 
M sent forth and slew all the children that were 
in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof." 
thinking thus to destroy him who was " born 
King of the Jew r s, * here met the king of terrors, 
and closed his long career of infamy; " his rul- 
ing passion strong in death," and its crowning 
act, designed for that event. Aware of the 
hatred which his life had incurred, he resolved 
that his death should be no theme of a nation's 
joy, but of universal grief; to this end he assem- 
bled the chief men of the land in Jericho, and 
shut them up in the Hippodrome, giving strict 
orders to his sister and long associate in crime, 
Silome, to have them all put to death simultan- 
eous with his own decease. 

Bub this " Wady Kelt," down whose steep 



JOHN IX THE WILDERNESS. 



297 



gorges we look with a timid gaze, is probably 
none other than the bed of the brook Cherith, 
where the prophet Elijah hid himself, and was 
miraculously fed by ravens. " And the word 
of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee 
hence and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself 
in the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 5 ' 

A numerous and busy population occupied 
this plain, around Jericho, and the region east 
of the Jordan, at the period that John appeared, 
and with the courage and zeal of Elijah, an- 
nounced himself the messenger sent to fulfil the 
predictions of ancient prophecy: " The voice of 
him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye 
the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert 
a highway for our God." 

The intercourse between this then fertile re- 
gion and Jerusalem, was no doubt frequent; at 
the period of the stated feasts it was doubtless 
often thronged. Here then, on this great 
"highway" in the wilderness, over this deep 
gorge, memorable as the refuge of Elijah when 
he fled from the face of Ahab, and probably al- 
so of the spies of J oshua, with this landscape of 
unequalled interest in view, I behold the Bap- 
tist stand and proclaim to the passing throngs, 
44 Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at 
hand," for I am " the voice of him that crieth 
in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the 
Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for 



298 



JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 



our God." You see these devious paths, these 
deep valleys, these rugged and barren hills, this 
rough and all but impassable road, over which 
necessity compels you to wind your way, in your 
pursuits of life, or attendance on stated religious 
festivals. They but illustrate the moral diffi- 
culties that Messiah's mission of salvation is 
destined to meet; yet under the mighty hand of 
Him who is shortly to appear, who is from above, 
and above all, every valley of difficulty shall be 
filled, every mountain of opposition shall be 
made low, "and the crooked shall be made 
straight, and the rough places plain." Ponder 
well the message you now hear, and echo the 
intelligence as you go to your various destina- 
tions. " thou that tellest good tidings to 
Zion, get thee up into the high mountain; 
thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift 
up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not 
afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your 
God! 1 ' We here quote the marginal rendering 
of Isaiah, 40: 9, which is more then sustained, 
we are happy to find, by Lowth and Barnes. 

From this singular teacher, in this strange 
place, the astonished traveller hears with deep- 
est interest, the tidings of the approaching ad- 
vent of his long expected Messiah. New visions 
of glory for his nation are awakened in his 
bosom. He now hopes that the time may have 
come when the long-cherished expectations of 



JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 299 

an earthly kingdom of their Messiah, are about 
to be realized; when a national " deliverer is to 
come out of Zion," when he and his nation are 
to shake from them the hated Eoman yoke, and 
they in turn shall ride, and rule, triumphant 
over the nations, and a kingdom shall be set up, 
whose " dominion shall be from sea to sea, and 
from the river to the ends of the earth. 55 With 
a beating heart he hastens on his journey, and 
as he goes, he rehearses the "good tidings 55 to 
those he meets, and tells of the wonderful man 
who, with the spirit of Elijah of old, has ar- 
rested his attention in the wilderness. 

In all directions the glad news is spread 
through the land, and the nation, aroused as by 
a voice from Heaven, hasten to hear for them- 
selves the instructions of the newly-risen pro- 
phet: " There went out unto him Jerusalem and 
all Judea, and all the region round about Jor- 
dan." We now ask the sceptic, or the doubt- 
ing, what place in all Palestine so fitting for the 
Pulpit of John? What point so perfectly fulfil- 
ing ancient prophecy? What theatre so adapted 
to herald the message, quick, wide, and far 
through the land? 



CHAPTEE XXX. 

JERICHO AND ITS PLAIN. 

Early impressions respecting this plain — Its deep depression 
— Tropical climate — Irrigation — Always a barren desert 
— Josephus's description — Eemarkable sand mounds — 
Fountain of Elisha — Site of ancient city — Dates the "wild 
honey " — Food of John the Baptist — Quarantina moun- 
tain — Crusaders' tower — Night encampment — Industry of 
the ladies — Bedouin women — Arab songs — Night annoy- 
ances — Source of safety. 

It was after three o'clock when we began our 
difficult descent of the steep and ledgy sides of 
the mountain, whence we have recently contem- 
plated "John in the Wilderness." In little 
short of half an hour, we were on the plain at 
its base. The peculiarities of this remarkable 
region are, I apprehend, not very generally 
understood. Our early thoughts and imagina- 
tion paint a scene of verdure and fruitfulness 
not unlike those landscapes of beauty everywhere 
to be met in our own land. We literalize the 
fine poetry of Watts: 

" Sweet fields, beyond the swelling flood, 
Stand dressed in living green; 
So to the Jews old Canaan stood, 
While Jordan rolled between.'* 

The survey of Lieut. Lynch has demonstrat- 
ed the remarkable fact, that this Ghor of the 



JERICHO AND ITS PLAIN 



301 



Jordan, which is here about ten miles wide, 
with its adjacent sea, is situated thirteen hun- 
dred feet below the Mediterranean, and nearly 
four thousand below the hills of Judea around 
Jerusalem. 

The breath of winter has never visited this 
wide and nearly desolate plain. Under these 
western hills a considerable border of the valley 
is now, and doubtless has ever been, artificially 
irrigated from the prolific fountain of Elisha, 
and other similar springs found a mile or more 
north of it. As far as this process has been ex- 
tended, rich fertility has resulted; but beyond 
this extent, with the exception of a narrow belt 
on the margin of the Jordan, its valley is but 
little more inviting than the desert of Arabia; 
nor does it require " a prophet's ken " to know 
that such it must have ever been. It neces- 
sarily results from the peculiar situation of the 
valley, exposed in its deep depression to the in- 
fluence of an almost tropical sun during the 
whole circuit of the year, and for seven or eight 
months of it without rain. We have here 
special reference to that part of the valley ex- 
tending some twenty miles north from the Dead 
Sea. Josephus, describing Jericho, says: "The 
country as far as Jerusalem is desert and stony, 
but as far as Jordan and Lake Asphaltites, it 
lies lower indeed, though it be equally desert 
and barren/ 



302 JERICHO AND ITS PLAIN. 

On reaching the foot of the mountain, our 
attention was arrested by a remarkable mound 
of earth, bearing a very striking resemblance to 
the tumulus mound, on which a few weeks be- 
fore we had stood, on the plains of Marathon, 
which covers and commemorates the Athenians, 
who there fell in their victorious battle with the 
Persians, — and to those other mounds, of a pro- 
bably much earlier date, situated on the Phrygian 
shore near the mouth of the Dardanelles, known 
as the tombs of Achilles and Protesilaus, to 
which we have already referred. 

In the vicinity of this mound there are exten- 
sive foundations of buildings, some of them of 
reticulated stone work, which, beyond all doubt, 
refers them, as before remarked, to the Eoman 
period, and perhaps indicating the site of the 
very palace, from which Herod was summoned 
to his final account. 

Turning from these, we proceeded directly 
north, crossing the deep gorge of the Wady 
Kelt, soon after which, we again noticed other 
of« those tumulus-like-sand mounds, which led 
us to conclude that they are all natural forma- 
tions. If they are artificial, they must be re- 
ferred to a period anterior to the occupation of 
the tribes of Israel. 

Pursuing our way north, in half an hour we 
reached the gushing fountain of Elisha, 2 Kings, 
2: 19-22. As the city here referred to was 



JERICHO AND ITS PLAIN. 



303 



located near, and dependant on the fountain, it 
would seem to be a legitimate inference that the 
noxious quality of its waters may have been a 
recent and providential disturbance of its sub- 
terranean sources. 

AVe were now, probably, in the immediate 
vicinity of Jericho of old, " the City of Palm 
Trees. 55 Josephus says: c; Notwithstanding 
which, there is a fountain by Jericho that runs 
very plentifully, and is very fit for watering the 
ground. It arises near the old city, which 
Joshua the son of Nane, the general of the 
Hebrews took, the first of all the cities of the 
land of Canaan, by right of war. 55 He 
then goes on to show how the waters were 
healed by Elisha, and adds: " Accordingly it 
waters a larger space of ground than any other 
waters do, and passes along a plain of seventy 
furlongs long, and twenty broad, (rather ex- 
aggerated,) wherein it affords nourishment to 
those most excellent gardens that are thick set 
with trees. There are in it many sorts of palm- 
trees, that are watered by it, different from each 
other in taste and name: the better sort of them, 
when they are pressed, yield an excellent kind 
of honey, not much inferior in sweetness to other 
kinds of honey. 55 Doubtless the date-bearing 
palm: though it may provoke a smile of incred- 
ulity, that we who have so recently attempted 
to find the pulpit of the Baptist in the wilder- 



301 



JERICHO AKD ITS PLAIN. 



ness, have now found his meat on the plain. TTe 
w ill here inquire if we have not indicated to us, 
with no doubtful significancy, the 66 wild honey 
on which John fed in the wilderness. The 
arguments on which this opinion is founded 
would make too extensive a discussion for this 
place. The Biblical scholar need not be 
told that the Hebrew word debask, rendered 
"honey 5 ' by our translators, in our Bibles, has 
probably much more frequent reference to the 
honey of dates or dates themselves, than to the 
honey of bees. After examining the subject 
with the most reliable authorities, to my mind, 
the conclusion is irrefragable, that the "wild 
honey 5 ' spoken of, Matt. 3: 3, 4, was no other 
than new gathered dates, a nutritious and whole- 
some article of food, requiring no culinary art. 
With this explanation, there was nothing in the 
diet of the Baptist, at which the infidel need 
carp or the honest inquirer stumble. This topic 
is made the subject of a distinct chapter at the 
close of our volume. 

The " Quarantina Mountain, 5 ' one of the 
highest of the barren peaks of the wilderness, 
which overhangs the valley, was now little more 
than a mile distant from us in the north-west. 
This desolate place is pointed out by tradition 
as the spot where our Saviour passed his forty 
days of fasting and temptation. Matt. 4: 1-12. 
It is now surmounted by a very small chapel, 



JERICHO AND ITS PLAIN, 



305 



and high up in the face of the mountain are 
many openings or cells, in which, it is said, 
numerous anchorites formerly dwelt. 

After lingering around this interesting place, 
the prolific waters of which reminded me of our 
own Lebanon Springs, we turned to the south- 
east, passing along for some distance on the 
margin of the little stream that flows away from 
the fountain. As we proceeded, we noticed 
evidences of foundations, and numerous pieces 
of pottery, and other debris, scattered along for 
a considerable distance, indicating that a very 
busy multitude once occupied the ground over 
which we trod. 

The waters are soon diverted in various 
channels for irrigation. The patches of grain 
were now (January 18) considerably advanced, 
and every thing wore the impression of a tropi- 
cal climate. Even the fig-trees, which here, as 
elsewhere in Palestine, grow very large, retain- 
ed their leaves, and were green with foliage; a 
circumstance quite remarkable. 

Our muleteers and servants, with our baggage, 
had proceeded directly to the vicinity of the old 
Crusaders' Tower, the lonely and hoary sides of 
which are the prominent object to be seen on 
the plain. This is the usual camping-ground, 
and here our tents were pitched for the night. 
The scene was novel and full of interest to us, 
for. up to this time in the progress of our jour- 

u 



306 



JERICHO AND ITS PLAIN. 



ney, from its being the usual rainy season, we 
had contrived to sleep within the walls of some 
sort of a structure of stone, mortar and mud, 
called a house; but the wretched Bedouin village 
at hand could hardly make pretensions to com- 
pare even with the mud hovels of Egypt. 

In close proximity to our tents, our horses 
and donkeys were carefully secured, as far as 
within our power, from the hand of the midnight 
robber, and our baggage placed within, and tied 
to our tent poles — a precaution which we found 
it necessary afterwards to adopt at other en- 
campments. 

We reached our camp-ground ere the sun 
was set. The fatigues of eight or nine hours 
on our horses, gave us, as usual, a keen relish 
for our dinner, and the promise of a sound 
night's sleep in our tents. The ladies of our 
party, with their usual zeal, made diligent 
search for flowers for their collections; nor did 
they forget, even in this strange place, to write 
up their journals for the day. 

As the darkness of night drew on, a group of 
haggard and wretched-looking women, from the 
village, came to our encampment upon the usual 
errand of Bakhshish, (money,) singing in doleful 
and discordant notes some of their Arab songs. 
Our muleteers and Bedouin guards, too, as they 
lay around on the ground, or sat by a smoking 
fire, displayed their passion for music, such as 



JERICHO AXD ITS PLAIX. 307 

it was; and we had the promise that their talent 
would be put in requisition for our amusement 
or annoyance. 

This circumstances, amid the stamping of 
horses, and the talking and music of our Arabs, 
we laid us down in our tents and slept, first 
commending ourselves to His mercy and pro- 
tection " who only maketh us to dwell in safety" 
in any place. 

Ere the night was far advanced, our slumbers 
were disturbed: the whole plain seemed vocal 
with the yelping of unnumbered jackals, to 
which the dogs of the village responded in still 
louder notes. "We slept, however, without 
anxiety or alarm, and rose at an early hour the 
following morning, to prepare for our day's ex- 
cursion to the J ordan and the Dead Sea. 



CHAPTEE XXXI 



RIDE TO THE JORDAN. 

The Castle of Jericho: view from, its top— Departure for the 
Jordan — Cultivated fields — Ruined Sugar Houses — Sugar 
Cane not now cultivated: originally introduced by the 
Saracens — Michaud — Desolate appearance of the Plain- - 
Yiew of the Great Hermon — Grotesque appearance of our 
cavalcade — 'Negro Slaves: their price: condition — Com- 
parison of Oriental and American slavery — Sand mounds 
— Calcined Sulphur — A Gazelle — Valley of the Jordan — 
Arrival on its banks. 

The Castle of Jericho, as it is designated, is 
an old and massive structure, some forty feet 
square, by about the same height. It may have 
stood there a thousand years; owing its origin 
to the Saracens on their subjugation of Pales- 
tine. If not, it was the work of the early 
Crusaders, for it was spoken of more than six 
hundred years ago by writers of that day as an 
old tower. Pilgrims of the present day believe 
it to have been the house of Zaccheus — a tradi- 
tion that dates back three or four hundred years. 
As the top of it affords a good view of the Plain, 
we repaired to it for that object directly after 



RIDE TO THE JORDAN. 309 

our early breakfast. The view from it, however, 
by no means equals that from our " Pulpit of 
John." 

Returning from the Castle, at nine o'clock, 
A. M., we were on our horses ready for our ex- 
cursion to the Jordan and Dead Sea. The 
day (January 19) gave promise of being very 
w r arm, and at mid-day proved fully summer heat. 
Our course was in an East S. E. direction, and 
for a short distance over fields which bore evid- 
ence of having been recently under cultivation. 
We noticed what had been observed by Dr. 
Eobinson at a later season, that the roots of the 
old corn stalks were sending out fresh shoots 
for a second years crop! 

Doubtless a large part of this upper terrace 
of the Ghor might be brought under cultivation 
by a process of irrigation, from the waters of 
the fountains of Elisha and others north of it. 
That energetic race, the Saracens, appear to 
have introduced the culture of Sugar here to a 
considerable extent. Their ruined sugar-houses, 
are seen under the hills north of the Quarantina 
mountain. The culture of the cane has long 
been discontinued here. It is still grown to a 
small extent at Sidon, and the vicinity of Beirut, 
where we frequently saw the fresh-cut cane ex- 
posed for sale to the Arabs, who eat it, for its 
saccharine juice, in much the same way that we 
have seen the negroes eat it in the West Indies. 



310 RIDE TO THE JORDAN. 

No attempt is now made, as we are aware, to 
produce sugar in Syria or Palestine. It is an 
interesting fact that the sugar cane had been ex- 
tensively introduced into Palestine and Syria by 
the Saracens, long before it was known to the 
dwellers in Europe. It was not until the period 
of the first Crusade that Europeans knew prac- 
tically anything respecting the sugar cane. 
After the first Crusaders had taken Antioch, 
A. D. 1099, and subjugated Syria, they com- 
menced their march toward Jerusalem, the 
grand aim of their vast enterprise. Michaud 
relates that they commenced this march at the 
end of the month of May. " The inhabitants of 
Phoenicia/' he says, "had finished their harvest. 
The Christians found provisions every where, 
and admired on their passage the rich produc- 
tions of Asia. In the plains, and on the hills, 
were oranges, pomegranates, and many other 
sorts of trees unknown in the West. Among 
these new productions one plant, the juice of 
which was" sweeter than honey, above all at- 
tracted the attention of the pilgrims; this plant 
was the sugar cane. This plant, now become 
of such importance in commerce, had been till 
this time unknown in Europe." 

The whole plain, with the exception already 
made, now presents a scene of desolation. All 
that it has of cheerfulness is seen in this winter 
season, for now, the few shrubs which, not un- 



RIDE TO THE JORDAN. 



311 



like those on the Desert of Arabia, are scattered 
about, are in full bloom, and we gathered Speci- 
mens of them for our collections. At half-past 
nine o'clock we had an unobstructed view up 
the Ghor, and the snowy sides and top of the 
Great Hermon, Deut. 3: 9—25, "that goodly 
mountain, and Lebanon" (white) which Moses 
so much desired to visit, now one hundred and 
twenty miles in the north from us, burst upon 
our view, in all the glory of the Alpine monarch, 
Mont Blanc. Our cavalcade of horses, and 
retinue of footmen made quite a formidable dis- 
play, to say nothing of the grotesque appearance 
of the scene. When in the East it was a sub- 
ject of joke, and the question was often asked, 
64 What kind of a sensation should we produce 
in Broadway?" Our two Bedouin sheikhs, 
Mustafa and Mohammed, were, of course, in their 
best costume and full armour, their long 
lances cutting the air, while mounted on swift 
Arabian horses, they were occasionally exhibit- 
ing to us evolutions of warfare. It was truly a 
matter of surprise to see them riding at the top 
of their speed for an onset, and almost in an 
instant of time turned, and going as fast in 
another direction. To them we had ten footmen, 
with long guns so carelessly swung over their 
shoulders, that we regarded their position the 
greatest danger we had to encounter; two of these 
were Nubian Negroes, slaves of the Sheikh. 



312 



RIDE TO THE JORDAN. 



In answer to my inquiries, I was informed 
that the price paid for a healthy man was a sum 
equal to about forty dollars. If in them we had 
an illustration of primitive slavery, so far as 
relative degradation is taken into the account, 
it bears no parallel to the institution as it exists 
in our own country. There the master and 
slave eat from the same dish, and alike lie down 
on the hard ground for repose. Apart from 
the sundering of his rude ties of home, by the 
ruthless hand of the slave- catcher, the condition 
of the African has even there been meliorated 
by the transition from his native jungle. We 
noticed, while in the East, that the skin of the 
Ethiopian does not appear to be any special 
ground for disfavour. An incident occurred 
while on our way to the Jordan, which I noticed 
with interest, as shedding some light on this 
subject. For some cause, one of our Arab foot- 
men had a contention with one of the Nubians. 
The latter very resolutely vindicated his cause. 
Even the interference of the old sheikh was 
alike disregarded by both. While contemplat- 
ing the scene, and instituting its contrasts with 
Slavery as we had seen it in the West Indies, 
in South Carolina and other slave districts — 
fraught with evil to master and slave, as we 
deem the system to be, it was our conviction at 
the time, that we would greatly prefer for our- 
selves, and our children, the condition of slavery 



RIDE TO THE JORDAN. 



313 



in this land, with all its hazards and contingen- 
cies for the future, than that of the Sheikh or 
his slave with their prospects. We believe that 
in the worse districts of slavery in this country, 
they are more elevated in the scale of being, and 
enjoy vastly more comforts than the Arab. 
Nor can we leave out of the account that here 
it has been the occasion of bringing millions of 
the sons and daughters of Africa in some meas- 
ure under the light, and multitudes of them 
to experience the renovating power of the 
Gospel. 

The very presence of the system has been 
overruled by a wonder-working Providence to 
awaken in many hearts a deeper sympathy for 
Africa, and set on foot schemes of benevolent 
effort in her behalf, which are destined to send 
back and over that dark continent, that recu- 
perative influence — pure Christianity, which 
can alone disenthral it. In view of which, we 
should be slow to arraign the wisdom of that 
Providence which permitted the introduction of 
the system, destined soon to fade away before 
the law of Love — unless it shall gather up 
strength for further endurance for a time, under 
the excitements of angry denunciation that are 
occasionally too rife in our country. 

I hope I may be pardoned this long episode, 
and allowed to return to my narrative. At 
considerable distance from the Jordan, we 



314 



RIDE TO THE JORDAN. 



dropped down into a lower and sandy plain, in 
which are numerous perpendicular sand mounds 
or tables, ten to fifteen feet in height, from 
which our Arabs procured for us specimens of 
calcined sulphur, apparently very pure. At a 
later hour, and some miles nearer to the Dead 
Sea, we gathered flowers so strongly impregnated 
with sulphur, we could not for a time retain 
them in our collections. During our whole 
ride, we saw but a single animal — a Gazelle, 
whose spectre-like form flew from us on the 
wings of lightning, and was quickly lost from our 
view and pursuit. 

A ride of two hours from Jericho brought us 
to the margin of a third or lower valley. Here 
the Jordan flows in a depressed plain, varying 
from a few hundred feet to a quarter of a mile 
in width. This is more or less covered with 
high shrubs, canebrake and several varieties of 
trees, of moderate size. It appears from Jose- 
phus that the Palm w T as anciently found here. 
As that tree flourishes best in the vicinity of 
water, the margin of the river would be con- 
genial to the habits of the tribe, and to them, 
and those planted along the water-courses of the 
prolific fountains at and near Jericho, it has 
been with great propriety supposed the psalmist 
has reference in his description of the godly man, 
Ps. 1: 3, " he shall be like a tree planted by the 
rivers of water." See, also, Ps. 92: 12. 



HIDE TO THE JORDAN. 



315 



Arrived at the Jordan we experienced a sur- 
prise, common probably to travellers, at finding 
a turbid stream but sixty-five to seventy feet 
wide, flowing with a rapid current between 
banks twelve to twenty feet high on the western 
side, and considerably lower on the eastern 
shore. That no change in the character of the 
river has occured in the process of ages seems 
very obvious. Maundrell was here on the 
thirtieth of March, A. D. 1696. " The river," 
he says, "was six feet below its banks, and 
twenty yards wide. The water was very turbid, 
and the current too rapid to be swam against." 
From the narrative of Lt. Lynch, it would ap- 
pear that in its course from Tiberias, it varies 
from seventy feet to seventy yards in width, 
being in some places broad and very shallow. 
Here, at eleven o'clock, A. M., we dismounted 
on the margin of the river, associated with our 
earliest impressions of Bible story, where mira- 
culous interposition stayed its rapid torrent, to 
afford a safe and dry passage to God's chosen 
tribes of old, Josh. 3: 16. 17: "Then Judah 
was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion. 
The sea saw it and fled: Jordan was driven back. 
What ailed thee, thou sea, that thou fleddest? 
Thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?" 
Ps. 114. 



CHAPTEE XXXII. 

THE RIVER JORDAN. 

Traditional places where John baptized — Custom of modern 
pilgrims — Perils attending — A staff from the banks of 
Jordan — Crossing-place of the tribes of old— River never 
overflows— Dr. Eobinson's view — Explorations of Lt. 
Lynch — Facts ascertained — Rapid descent — Obvious in- 
ference. 

In the account of our ci Ride to the Jordan," 
we have referred to the fact, that in this south- 
ern portion of its valley, embracing less than 
one-half the distance from the Dead Sea to 
Tiberias, there may properly be said to be three 
terraces: the narrow plain into which the river 
flows, covered more or less with trees, shrubs 
and vegetation; then a wider, higher, and sandy 
level, destitute of vegetation, and filled with 
conical sancl-mounds; beyond this, and still more 
elevated, that extended and barren region, a 
portion of which around Jericho, of greater or 
less extent, in different ages, has been brought 
under cultivation by irrigation. We have also 
inferred from its deep depression, and conse- 
quent tropical climate, that this has ever been 



THE RIVER JORDAN". 317 

the character of the Ghor. Another obvious 
inference, on looking at the scene, seems to be 
that the region of the Jordan never was occu- 
pied by villages. To this feature we may here- 
after have occasion to refer. 

At the commencement of our pilgrimage in 
Palestine, 1 had carefully collated the various 
portions of Scripture having reference to partic- 
ular incidents and localities, to be read on the 
ground of occurrence, and here as usual, we read 
those portions relating to the Jordan, for we had 
found, however invaluable, our guide-books, and 
especially the " Biblical Researches 55 of our 
friends and countrymen, yet the Bible in Pal- 
estine, is emphatically the best companion for 
the traveller. 

The sects of Christian pilgrims are not per- 
fectly agreed as to the exact traditional spot 
where our Saviour was baptized by John. The 
distance between the two fixed upon is but short, 
and to one or the other they repair in great 
numbers at the annual recurrence of Holy Week. 
Here they enter the stream, and submerge 
their bodies three times below the surface, re- 
peating at each time the name of the Holy 
Trinity, or that of one of the sacred persons. 
From the rapidity of the current of the river, 
this is always attended with peril, and some 
one or more are generally drowned every year. 
This bathing in the sacred stream performed, 



318 



THE RIVER JORDAN. 



they secure from it a small quantity of the water, 
and a staff from the trees along its banks. 

The staff and the water, in like manner we 
procured, and conveyed safely over other con- 
tinents to our own home, — mementos of our in- 
teresting visit there. Whether we had reached 
the exact point where the Tribes passed over in 
long processions into the land of their promised 
and desired rest, was veiled from us. No stones 
of memorial now stand in the midst of Jordan 
to mark the spot " where the feet of the Priests 
which bare the ark of the covenant stood," or if 
they do, they are hid beneath the rushing tor- 
rent from mortal gaze. 

" For the priests which bare the ark stood in 
the midst of Jordan, until everything was finish- 
ed that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak 
unto the people, according to all that Moses 
commanded J oshua; and the people hasted and 
passed over. And it came to pass, when the 
priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the 
Lord were come up out of the midst of Jordan, 
and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up 
unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan 
returned unto their place, and flowed over all 
its banks, as they did before. 5, Joshua, 4: 10, 
18. 

In this miraculous passage of the Israelites 
over Jordan, it was not so much the width of 
the stream, as its rapidity which gave to 



THE RIVER JORDAN. 



319 



this stay of its waters its most striking impres- 
sion. Nor was it a mere local effect, for " the 
waters which came down from above stood and 
rose up upon an heap, very far from the city of 
Adan, that is beside Zaretan," which place 
appears to have been nigh to Beth Shen, a dis- 
tance of thirty -five to forty miles. 

Here a question of considerable interest to 
the Biblical student and Sabbath school teacher 
arises: Had the Jordan anciently an annual 
overflow? That no such event now occurs is 
quite certain. Neither drift-wood nor deposit 
are there. The climate in the valley is pro- 
bably warmer than much of Northern Egypt; 
and did the J ordan, to any extent, like the Nile, 
overflow its banks, a like prolific result would 
follow. To our early habits of thought, found- 
ed on Josh. S: 15, " For Jordan overfloweth all 
his banks all the time of harvest," and the pas- 
sage before quoted, it may appear a bold pro- 
position to call in question the correctness of 
the rendering. The harvest here in the valley 
occurs in April — nearly two months subsequent 
to the rainy season — and the flood in the Jordan 
at this season is the result of the melting snows 
on Anti-Lebanon. The difficulty of reconciling 
the text with the facts as they are found, could 
not fail to attract the attention of Dr. Bobinson, 
on his brief visit hei*e thirteen years before; and 
with his usual acuteness and accuracy, he sug- 



320 



THE RIVER JORDAN. 



gests several ways of reconciling the apparent 
discrepancy. He remarks: 

" It is indeed generally assumed that the 
Jordan of old, somewhat like the Nile, regularly 
overflowed its banks in the spring, covering with 
its waters the whole of the lower valley, and per- 
haps sometimes large tracts of the broad Ghor 
itself. It seems, however, to be generally ad- 
mitted that no such extensive inundation takes 

! place at the present day, and it is therefore 
supposed that some change must have taken 

! place, either because the channel has been worn 
deeper than formerly, or because the waters have 
been diminished or diverted. The sole accounts 
we have of the annual increase of its waters are 
found in the earlier Scripture history of the 
Israelites, where, according to the English ver- 

i sion, Jordan is said to <: overflow its banks 1 ' in 
the first month, or all the time of harvest; but 
the original Hebrew expresses in these passages 
nothing more than that the Jordan was full or 
filled up to all its banks, meaning the banks of its 
channel, or was brim full; the same sense is given 
by the Septuagint and Vulgate." Bib. R., vol. 
2, p. 261. 

At the period of Dr. R.'s visit to the Jordan, 
no traveller in modern times had traversed the 
whole extent of the Ghor, or attempted to navi- 
gate its river; and many interesting facts since 
ascertained were not accurately known. 



THE RIVER JORDAN". 



321 



In April, 1848, Lt. Lynch, of the American 
Navy, with his exploring party, launched their 
boats on Tiberias, from which they entered the 
Jordan and descended it to the Dead Sea, 
which they subsequently explored. From the 
published narrative many interesting facts may 
be gathered: 1st, the distance from Tiberias to 
the Dead Sea, in a direct line is sixty miles; 
2nd, from the sinuous course of the Jordan, it 
was found by Lt. Lynch to be more than two 
hundred miles long, varying in width from 
seventy feet to seventy yards; 3rd, another very 
important and interesting fact gathered from the 
narrative is, that all these windings of the river 
are confined wdthin a longitude of four miles!! 
At the end of one of the eight days of his voy- 
age down the river he says, " the course of the 
river formed a never-ending series of serpentine 
curves,' 5 and again, " the course of the river 
varied to-day from N. E. by N. and N. N. W. 
to South; the true course from the place of 
departure this morning to our present camp, 
was S. S. W." 4th. Another fact which we 
gather, and to w 7 hich we ask special attention is, 
that the current of the river amid all these con- 
tortions will average from four to five miles the 
hour. Lt. Lynch speaks of " plunging dow T n 
tw 7 enty-seven threatening rapids, besides a great 
many lesser." These facts will not appear 

strange, w 7 hen we take into the account the very 

x 



322 



THE RIVER JORDAN. 



great descent which the river makes in its 
passage from Tiberias to the Dead Sea. In our 
article on " Jericho and its Plain," we have re- 
ferred to the remarkable fact, that the Dead Sea 
is ascertained to be depressed about thirteen 
hundred feet below the Mediterranean.'' 

It has been suggested that there may be some 
exaggeration in the statements of Lt. Lynch. I 
have, however, particularly interrogated a very 
intelligent and entirely reliable Armenian, a 
native of Bethlehem, who accompanied Lt. Lynch 
in his " Expedition down the Jordan," and who 
fully corroborates his statements in regard to 
its sinuous course and rapid descent. 

Lt. Lynch has not informed us of the relative 
height of Tiberias, but from my own observa- 
tions when there, and judging also from the 
plain of Esdraelon w 7 hich reaches down nearly to 
the Jordan, and is at a moderate elevation only 
above the Mediterranean, I think it safe to infer 
that Tiberias is not below that sea. 1 We have 
here presented the remarkable fact of a descent 
of twelve to thirteen hundred feet in the short 
distance of sixty miles, in fact the principal part 
of it occurs in the last forty miles. It is a well- 
ascertained fact in physical science, that a descent 
of three inches per mile, in a smooth straight 

1 Since the above was written, I have learned from German 
authority that Tiberias is eighty-four feet below the Mediter- 
ranean.- 



THE RIVER JORDAN. 



323 



channel, gives a velocity of about three miles an 
hour. The Ganges, at eighteen hundred miles 
from its mouth, is only eight hundred feet above 
the level of the sea. 

In view of these facts, a very important sug- 
gestion occurs in regard to the question ichether 
the Jordan did ever, to any extent, overflow its 
banks. Assuming an annual overflow, the main 
current at such times would pass off in a direct 
line, and with an accelerated current, equal 
probably to nine or twelve miles the hour. Now, 
in view of the soil in this lower plain, can it be 
doubted, if such were the fact, that the river 
would very quickly, if not in the very first 
season, make a direct channel? Yet I do not 
find a single instance named in the nar- 
rative of Lt. Lynch, of the least indication of 
such an occurrence in all the abrupt and re- 
markable windings of the river in its whole ex- 
tent. To me it does appear, as at present 
viewed, to settle conclusively that the Jordan 
never did, to any extent, overflow its banks, and 
that a more correct rendering of the text would 
have been, as suggested by Dr. Robinson, " full 
banks." 

Standing over this interesting stream, our 
curiosity would have been gratified had some 
land-marks designated the places where the 
Tribes, or Elijah and Elisha, at a later day, 
crossed; or that spot of still deeper interest to 



324 



THE RIVER, JORDAN. 



the Christian, where the Baptist carried forward 
his reforming and preparatory mission. It was 
sufficient to know that this immediate vicinity 
was the theatre of those events. But a greater 
than Joshua, Elijah or John has been here, the 
true J OSHUA of the true Israel. "He will save" 
his chosen tribes in every age, saying to them, 
" when thou passest through the waters I will 
be with thee; and through the rivers they shall 
not overflow thee."— Isaiah, 43: 2. Of him the 
Baptist testified, " of his fulness have all we re- 
ceived, and grace for grace. For the Law was 
given by Moses, but grace and truth came by 
Jesus Christ." 



CHAPTER 



XXXIII. 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 

Evils of sectarian strife deplored — Occasion of the subject en- 
gaging attention — Considered on Scripture localities — 
John's aim in repairing to the Jordan — Oriental Manners 
and Customs indicate pouring of water as the original 
mode of Baptism — Places designated where John preached 
and Baptized — The Wilderness — The River Jordan — 
Bethabara — Enon— Period of John's labours — Peculiarity 
of his character — Remarkable character of the Jordan 
Valley — ~No villages on its banks — Stream turbid, rapid 
and dangerous — Fountain of Elisha — Bethabara — Enon — 
Place of springs of water — A resting-place for travellers- 
Its probable locality. 

The title of our chapter may seem to indicate 
to the reader the apprehension that we are 
about to enter upon a field more legitimately in 
the keeping of the theologian and the polemic. 
We trust, however, it is unnecessary, on various 
considerations, for us to disclaim such a pur- 
pose in regard to the suggestions we are about 
to make. 

Sectarian strife we desire ever to avoid. If 
there be those favoured spots on earth's surface, 
where its fountains can be effectually dried up, 



JOHX AT THE JORDAN. 



they are reached on those distant shores where 
Paganism, Mohammedanism, or the forms of cor- 
rupted Christianity, perhaps equally fatal, pre- 
vail. How affecting to a heart, at all under the 
sway of the love of Christ, there to witness 
whole nations of men wrapt in the cold mantle 
of moral death, and to feel the sad conviction 
that entire generations are destined to sink into 
its gloomy night, ere the alone adequate relief 
will be brought to their rescue. If we may be 
allowed to obtrude our own impression, we can 
say, that often, while travelling along the shores 
of Yf estern Asia, have w T e cast our eyes and sent 
our thoughts westward, toward this land of 
privilege, such as the sun nowhere else shines 
upon; while the exclamation has broken from 
our lips: " Oh that ministers and people there 
could witness, for one brief hour, these desola- 
tions! How would the view impress upon them 
a sense of their own responsibility? How would 
the minister preach, and the hearer pray and 
act? Would that we had a trumpet tongue, 
that could send its notes beyond the rocky moun- 
tains! Ephraim should be constrained no lon- 
ger to envy Judah, nor Judah to vex Ephraim. 
Shame on that waste of moral power of the 
church in her contentions about the mint, ths 
Annis and the Cummin^ Long since might 
the world have been converted, but for these 
baleful influences within her pale. 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



327 



It is with no desire to kindle or perpetuate 
such a spirit that we sit down to the consider- 
ation of our topic. It is more than probable 
that our thoughts would not have been specially 
interested or directed to this subject, had it not 
been for the attitude of sectarian intolerence as- 
sumed by a portion of our brethren of the Bap- 
tist denomination, in regard to our excellent 
version of the Holy Bible, at the very period of 
our visit to Palestine, which was the occasion of 
bringing the subject particularly to our consider- 
ation in the progress of our travels. 

Our simple aim is to elicit truth: most heart- 
ily shall we rejoice if our humble contributions 
shall aid others in its search in this or any 
other relation, who may not have enjoyed some 
of the advantages that have mercifully fallen to 
our lot while visiting the principal places in 
Palestine of Scriptural interest — that land where 
Christianity and its symbols had their birth; 
where, with the Bible open before us, we had 
the advantage of examining, on the very ground 
of their occurrence, those narrated incidents 
which have special reference to the ordinance of 
baptism in apostolic days. 

There seems to have gathered over the minds 
of very many of the readers of our English 
Bibles an impression, so early imbibed as to be 
to them almost innate, that the chief object, the 
grand design of the Baptist, in repairing to the 



328 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



J ordan, was, that he might there immerse his 
disciples beneath its waters. From our personal 
inspection of the scene, we believe suuh an im- 
pression entirely erroneous: and we cherish none 
other than the kindest feeling towards our Bap- 
tist brethren, when we add, that we are well 
persuaded that there are thousands, now within 
the pale of that denomination, who would not 
have been there had they known the physical 
difficulties which invalidate a belief in their ex- 
clusive dogma on Scriptural localities. 

While it is obvious that "John's baptism" 
was not Christian baptism, Acts 19: 5; yet, in 
the mode of its administration, it may have an 
important relation to it. We shall not under- 
take to prove the exact mode of administration 
w T hich John practiced. This we are not called 
to do, especially as we read, Heb. 9: 10, that 
there were " divers washings," Diaphorois 
Baptismois; different or various baptisms, as it 
is in the original— under the old dispensation, 
one of which, as is clearly seen in the context, 
v. 13, was the ashes " of a red heifer mingled 
with clean water, sprinkling the unclean.'' 
Numbers 19: 17. Whether the act was per- 
formed by sprinkling or affusion, whether the 
subject stood erect, or kneeled, was ancle-deep 
in water, or upon a parched desert, we cannot 
believe was very essential. As practiced by 
John, the rite could imply but little more 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



329 



than the emphatic reliance of the party on the 
divinely-authorized announcements of the pro - 
phet, touching the immediate approach of Mes- 
siah, and a life comformable to such expectation. 

From our personal knowledge of Oriental 
manners and customs, which we believe to have 
come down from the earliest times to the pre- 
sent day, mainly unchanged, if w 7 e felt in con- 
science bound to literal conformity to the man- 
ner in which the two positive institutions of the 
Gospel, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, were 
administered at their origin, we should feel also 
bound to disown, if not excommunicate, the 
whole visible Church, not excepting even our 
Baptist brethren, as unwarrantable innovators, 
and establish in our humble and isolated self, a 
communion on the apostolic basis. In regard 
to Baptism, there are many considerations to 
induce the belief, that pouring water on the 
subject, was the original manner. We see that 
indicated in present customs of drinking and 
washing. It was amusing to view an Arab 
hold a small w T ater skin or jar above, and pour, 
water from it in a small stream into his mouth. 
" I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and 
floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my 
Spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thy 
offspring." Isaiah 44: 3. The children of be- 
lievers seem to be included in this covenant and 
promise. In washing the hands, it is still the 



330 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



duty of an upper servant to pour water on the 
hands of the master. We find, II Kings 3: 11. 
Elisha " poured water on the hands of Elijah/' 
in the relation of an upper servant. So we 
doubt not it was with Abraham and his my- 
sterious guests. Gen. 18: 4; and also in Luke 
11: 38, and other similar cases. In the manner, 
too, of sitting and eating, we find our innova- 
tions from the primitive customs equally great, 
and which to an Oriental are very barbarian. 

We shall be prepared to form a more correct 
estimate of John at the Jordan, if we first review 
his labour there, in connection with the scrip- 
tural intimations of him at other localities. 
There are mainly four places specially designat- 
ed, where he baptized: the Wilderness of Judea, 
at the River Jordan, Bethabara, and Enon. If 
the materials for an illustration of our subject 
are not abundant, we believe they significantly 
speak the same language. 

The Wilderness of Judea is a region well as- 
certained. Its characteristics are alike remark- 
able and unchanged since the day that David 
was a fugitive from the hands of Saul amid its 
wastes. We are accustomed to associate the 
idea of a dense, untrodden forest with the term 
Wilderness; and probably very many, if not a 
large proportion of Bible readers, have associat- 
ed in their thoughts such an imaginary region, 
when they read the accounts of John as we find 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



331 



them narrated in the Gospel. Nothing could 
be more unlike the reality. David has graph- 
ically described it in the sixty-third Psalm: 
" a dry and thirsty land, where no water is." 
The beauty of this Psalm can only be fully ap- 
preciated when we transport ourselves into the 
place and circumstances in which it was com- 
posed, Josephus, a few years subsequent to 
the period of J ohn, incidentally describing this 
region, says of Jericho; — " It is situated in a 
plain; but a naked and barren mountain of very 
great length hangs over it, which extends to the 
land about Sythopolis (Bethshan) northward, 
but as far as the country of Sodom and the ut- 
most limits of the lake Asphaltites southward. 
This mountain is all of it very uneven and unin- 
habited, by reason of its barrenness." And 
again: "The country as far as Jerusalem is 
desert and stony; but that as far as Jordan and 
the lake Asphaltites lies lower, indeed, though 
it be equally desert and barren." — B. W. Ch. 8. 

We well remember our astonishment when 
our eyes first took in this extended landscape 
from the top of the Mount of Olives. To some 
of its remarkable features we have called the 
attention of our readers in our previous chapter 
on " John in the Wilderness." 

The region assumes, as we have seen, this 
naked and desolate character soon after you 
leave Bethany. Much of it is too barren even 



332 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



to produce that little shrub, which the Arabs 
term Bellan, and which generally abounds on 
the most sterile spots in Syria and Palestine; in 
our travelling notes we put it down as an un- 
usual phenomenon, when we occasionally saw it I 
in this Wilderness. We must here stop to re- 
mark, that there are the most satisfactory rea- 
sons for believing, that this little bush is the 
very article to which our Saviour referred, Matt. 
6: SO, " the grass of the field, which to-day is, 
and to-morrow is cast into the oven." It is a 
heath-like, thorny bush, growing in small 
bunches, and from eight to fifteen inches in 
height. As of old, it constitutes an important 
article of fuel; it is gathered and brought into 
J erusalem in large masses, on the backs of don- 
keys; literally, agreeable to the description, it is 
" to-day in the field, and to-morrow cast into 
the oven." In the winter season, when we saw 
it, it was " clothed"' with a small leaf, and we 
observed with no little interest, that it also had 
a minute yellow flower, which it required the 
aid of our microscope glass well to examine. 
We have in our cabinet good specimens of this 
grass, some of which we rescued from the flames 
of the baker's oven, while we were in Jerusalem, 
that we might exhibit it to our friends; and we 
may well pause, in this digression from our main 
design, to admire the simple, and yet affecting 
lesson which it was used to impress. One other 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 333 

thought it forcibly awakened. — we had little 
doubt that it was of this flexible thorn bush 
that the croicn of thorns was platted, which 
deriding and cruel hands once placed upon the 
Eedeemer's brow. 

The wisdom that guided John to the selection 
of this strange place to commence his public 
ministry is capable of the most perfect vindica- 
tion; securing in the best way the ends designed, 
and fulfilling prophetic predictions. 

John doubtless posted himself on this great 
highway or thoroughfare leading from Jerusalem 
to Jericho, and there, as a wayside preacher, 
made his announcements to the passing throng; 
W'ho, especially at the seasons of the festivals, 
frequented the ancient highway in the Wilder- 
ness. But our present object is not to vindi- 
cate the wisdom w T hich guided John in the sel- 
ection of the Wilderness to proclaim his mighty 
theme, but to direct our thoughts to the locality, 
and to the fact, that there he performed the rite 
of Baptism. As soon as he began to gain dis- 
ciples, he began to baptize them. "John did 
baptize in the Wilderness, and preached the 
baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." 
Mark 1: 4. 

Mark seems to have placed this explicit de- 
claration in the beginning of his Gospel; and 
who may presume to deny that one clear and 
explicit statement of a fact, or a doctrine 



334 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



contained in the inspired record, is not as good 
as a hundred, especially when such statement 
does not conflict with other statements on the 
same topic? or who shall dare to explain away 
the clear statement of an Evangelist, to accom- 
modate a dogma of sectarianism? 

No man that has ever surveyed this Wilder- 
ness will assume that baptism by immersion was 
possible in that " dry and thirsty land." The 
topography of the region utterly forbids it. If 
administered by sprinkling or affusion, the water- 
skin of the traveller would afford an ample sup ■ 
ply for a season; but ere long the place became 
too strait. On this highway in the Wilderness 
there was no adequate room for the gathering 
crowds who, aroused by the announcements of 
the Baptist, so congenial to the expectation of 
the times, from Jerusalem and all Judea were 
flocking to his ministry. 

Here, amid these naked and thirsty hills, 
there is no shade from the scorching sun, un- 
less it be the shadow of a great rock in a wean- 
land; no cool spring of water to supply the ex- 
hausted sack of the lingering crowds who waited 
on the instructions of the prophet. 

The ends of wilderness preaching had, in fact, 
been attained, and the Baptist was necessitated 
to look around for another field to carry for- i 
ward the reformation so auspiciously begun. 

We have no definite information respecting j 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN". 



335 



the season when John entered upon his public 
ministry in the Wilderness, or of the length of 
time he was there occupied. This much we do 
know, however, — his announcements thrilled the 
nation with the most exciting expectations in re- 
gard to their long-expected Messiah; and multi- 
tudes, from all parts of the land, hastened to 
hear his instructions. " And there went out 
unto him all the land of J udea, and they of Jeru- 
salem, and were all baptized of him in the river 
of Jordan, confessing their sins." 

There are valid reasons for believing in the 
generally-received tradition, that it was to one of 
the fords of the Jordan, some two hours distant 
from Jericho, that John repaired on leaving the 
Wilderness. The point selected seems to have 
been, if not the very place, at least in the im- 
mediate proximity of the place, where of old the 
tribes of Israel had crossed the rapid stream, dry 
shod, while the ark of the Covenant, with the 
priests that bare it, rested securely on its un- 
covered channel. 

That on leaving the Wilderness, J ohn should 
have repaired to another leading thoroughfare of 
the land, entirely accords with the genius of his 
character and habits. He mingled not in the 
usual and common conditions of society around 
him. We never hear of him in city or village. 
" He came neither eating bread nor drinking 
wine." In these respects, his conduct appeared 



336 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



to some so eccentric, that they said " He liath a 
devil," Luke,/: S3. This view of his habits 
is, in fact, the only rational way of accounting 
for his labours in so remarkable a place as that 
portion of the Jordan valley to which he re- 
paired. 

The topographical features of this valley are 
even more remarkable than those of the Wilder- 
ness of Judea. Its description has been the 
j subject of a previous chaper. During full seven 
of the warmest months of the year, not a drop of 
rainfalls upon its surface. Such being the facts, 
w T ith the exception of a narrow belt on the mar- 
gin of the river, and the region immediately 
around Jericho, this whole valley has been a 
desert since the day " the Lord overthrew the 
cities of the plain, and all the inhabitants of the 
cities, and that which grew upon the ground." 
Gen. 19: 25, Such is this portion of the Jor- 
dan valley. 

In view of this scene, a variety of considera- 
tions have impressed us as difficulties in the way 
of the Baptist theory of immersion. There is 
little probability that any village occupied this 
region of the river, where the conveniences for a 
change of raiment could have been procured for 
the converts, and we may well doubt if one in a 
thousand of those who waited on John's ministry 
carried with them such a change. The nature 
of the valley the records of the Bible, the state- 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



337 



merits of Josephus and the testimony of tradition, 
all confirm the view that it was merely to a ford 
of the Jordan, and not a village on its banks, 
that John repaired. 

We find that the tribes of Israel, after cros- 
sing the Jordan, proceeded immediately to " Gil- 
gal, on the east border of Jericho," Josh. 4: 19, 
which place, J osephus says, was fifty stadia (six 
and a half miles) from the J ordan, and ten sta- 
dia from Jericho; being in exact agreement with 
the region as we now find it, within the reach of 
artificial irrigation from the fine fountains of 
Elisha and Duk, to which we have before refer- 
red as at Jericho. The remarkable descent of 
the Jordan, and the consequent rapidity of the 
stream, are facts beyond dispute, in which tra- 
vellers in every age have agreed. To these facts, 
and some of the results involved, we have claim- 
ed the consideration of our readers in our previ- 
ous chapter. We will only add to what has 
already been adduced in that relation, that the 
lower portion of the Jordon is by far less sinu- 
ous in its course than it is in its more central 
parts, and the rush of its waters therefore is less 
obstructed. 

To us, after looking over the region, it has 
appeared entirely inexplicable, w T hy John did not 
repair to the clear and prolific Fountain of Eli- 
sha, rather than to the turbid, rapid, and dang- 
erous J ordan, if the immersion of his disciples 

Y 



338 



IOH3 AT THE JORDAN. 



bad been one of his chief ob'eets in resorting to 
its banks. This fountain of Elisha, II Kings. 2: 
19, was in close proximity to Jericho, and we 
have the authority of Joseplius, that pools and 
swimming baths existed there at the period in 
question. "We are informed by him that the young 
High Priest Aristobulus, the last of the Asmon- 
eans, was here drowned in one of the swiming- 
baths, at the instigation of Herod the Great. The 
popularity of John at this period, would, doubt- 
less, have secured for him a ready access to these 
quiet and pure waters, where the conveniences 
for a change of raiment were at hand if the form 
of administering the rite by him had made it 
necessary. 

TVe have, in fact, not the remotest intimation 
in the Bible, that those who were baptized by 
J ohn. or subsequently by the apostles, had any 
occasion for a change of raiment in consequence. 

Judging from analog}', as well as from Scrip- 
ture record, the excitement consequent upon the 
preaching of John, was brief in its duration: but 
in that brief period multitudes rushed to hear his 
message, and received his baptism. " He was a 
burning and a shining light, and ye were willing 
for a season to rejoice in his light. * John, 5: 35. 

By immersion, we do not believe it possible 
that John could have administered the rite of 
baptism to the great number who thronged 
around him at the Jordan. It may not be out 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 339 

of place to put down a calculation that we made, 
in this view of the question. It is not necessary 
and we do not presume to approximate very near 
to the full numbers. We will, however, assume, 
that the very low number of one hundred and 
twenty persons, each day, for the time, received 
the rite at the hand of John. Now, if our Bap- 
tist brethren are just right in the form of leading 
their disciples into the water, and plunging them, 
one by one, beneath it, we conceive that four 
minutes for each person so baptized, would be as 
little time as can be alloted for the service, in 
the rapid and dangerous waters of the Jordan. 
We have, then, eight hours of each day for John 
to be in the water engaged in this service, for 
we have no intimation that he delegated it to 
others. But we are warranted, from the Gos- 
pel narratives, in believing that more than thrice 
the number indicated were often daily baptized 
by John. " Then said he to the multitudes that 
came forth to be baptized of him," etc. Luke, 
S: 7. We shall leave it to others to judge whether 
any mortal man would have strength for such a 
service; to say nothing about the time it requir- 
ed, or the perils of the river. The custom, so 
full of danger, and so often fatal, of modern pil- 
grims at the Jordan, is just in keeping with their 
other superstitious practices, and will not be cited 
by our Baptist friends to sustain their views. 
It has been the function of superstition and 



340 JOHN AT THE JORDAN". 

formalism, in every age, to add to the simple and 
significant rites of the Gospel, saying, with Pe- 
ter: " Lord, not my feet only, but my hands and 
my head." How long John remained in the 
vicinity of the J ordan, we do not know; certain 
it is, our Saviour seems to attach much the most 
importance to his Wilderness labours. " What 
went ye out into the Wilderness to see?" Matt. 
11: 7. 

We come now to John at Bethabara. This 
" house of passage*" beyond Jordan, would seem 
to have been a khan, or resting-place for travel- 
lers, somewhere in the valley, between the Jor- 
dan and the hills of Moab, that borders it on the 
east. It is referred to twice, as beyond Jordan, 
and it is for others to prove that there was 
water to immerse the followers of John. Some 
critics, however, say it should have been Beth- 
any — " a place of dates" We will only remark, 
that if they are correct in this, it does not affect 
the statement, but ifc may go to confirm a sug- 
gestion, which we have elsewhere made, that the 
" wild honey," which was the food of John, and 
dates are identical. 

We next hear of John at iEnon. "And 
John also was baptizing at iEnon, near to Salim, 
because there was much water there." John, 
3: 23. Concerning this " place of a fountain or 
spring of water," nothing very definite is known. 
We made particular inquiries of the Eev. Mr. 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



341 



Nicolayson, who had resided twenty-five years 
in Jerusalem, concerning the place. His infor- 
mation went to confirm the general opinion that 
it was a location in the hilly region south of the 
Gilboa range, where there were springs of water, 
as the name implies; probably on one of the roads 
or thoroughfares leading from Samaria or Na- 
blous to the Jordan, and a convenient watering- 
place for the traveller. Any one who has 
visited the East, knows how universally such 
places are selected as points for resting. Here 
John, doubtless, met and taught a passing or 
gathering auditory, and administered the rite of 
baptism. From the fact that iEnon was near to 
Salim, it would seem to have been on the route 
from Nablous to the Jordan, the ancient Salim 
or Shalem, Gen. 33: 18, as it has been identi- 
fied by Dr. Eobinson, was about three miles east 
from " Jacob's well." "We saw distinctly the 
present little village which marks the place, when 
we were at Mount Gerizim. It is memorable 
as the spot where Jacob pitched his tent when 
he came from Padanaram. 

This region has many springs of water. To 
us it appears quite remarkable that any one can 
impartially view these scenes of Johns labours, 
without seeing abundant reasons for doubting the 
infallibility of the Baptist dogma. Our brief view 
of its topographical features, can convey but a very 
inadequate impression of their reality. 



CHAPTEE XXXIV. 

THE DEAD SEA. 

Departure from the Jordan — Thoughts of home — Eide to the 
Dead Sea — .Region of desolation — Arrival at northern 
shore of sea — Gloomy scene — Lunch on its shore — Water 
clear, salt and bitter — Extent of the lake — Western hills 
— Moab — Lt. Lynch's survey — No bitumen at the present 
day — Rapid process of Evaporation — Waters of Jordan 
absorbed. 

After lingering on the banks of the Jordan 
three-quarters of an hour, we remounted our 
horses. We had now reached, in the plan of 
our travels, our farthest Eastern destination, 
and were nearly eight thousand miles from 
home — " sweet home." A desert was yet to be 
crossed, and other continents and seas traversed, 
before we even reached that wide ocean that in- 
tervened; yet distance and surrounding scenes of 
gloom and desolation seemed to clothe with new 
charms home's attractions, that even here 
waked up emotions of delight at the suggestion, 
as we slowly turned our backs upon the river, 
that thenceforward our destination was to be 
Westward and homeward. 



THE DEAD SEA. 



343 



We now proceeded on our way to the Dead 
Sea, diverging somewhat to the west of the path 
of the river, which enters the sea considerably 
inclined to the eastern mountains. Our track 
was over a region of utter desolation. Much 
of the ground was thinly covered with a white 
incrustation, which, on tasting, we found to be 
a nitrous deposit, doubtless caused by the pre- 
cipitation of the saline ingredients, which com- 
bine with the atmosphere while passing over 
the Dead Sea in times of sirocco storms. A 
ride of an hour and a quarter, under a burning 
sun, brought us to the northern shore of that 
strange sea, whose heavy waters cover, as well 
as commemorate the dire catastrophe of " the 
cities of the plain." We opened our Bibles, 
and read in the nineteenth chapter of Genesis 
the account of the destruction of Sodom and 
Gomorrah, and the cities about them, " con- 
demned with an overthrow, making them an 
ensample unto those that after should live un- 
godly," II Peter, 2: 6. We were affectingly 
admonished of that sorer ruin which impends 
those thousands who, in their own highly- 
favoured land, truly exalted to heaven in their 
privileges, yet live and die in the neglect of the 
glorious Gospel. Sodom and Gomorrah shall 
rise up in the judgment and condemn them. 
Our prayer was here raised that we and ours, 
to the latest times, might heed this note of 



344 



THE DEAD SEA. 



warning. "When shall the church arise from 
her apathy, and hasten the lingerers around her 
pale, saying in the language of heaven's impor- 
tunity: "Escape for thy life; look not behind 
thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape 
to the mountain, lest thou be consumed/' 

Here, at one o'clock, P. M., we dismounted 
from our horses, and, spreading our cloth on 
the sandy shore, ate our lunch. Immediately 
before us a narrow plain extended seven or 
eight hundred feet into the sea. It is spread 
out in its southern extremity, and was covered 
with a mass of unhewn stones, which at some 
early period may have composed an edifice. A 
gloomy silence reigned over the scene. Not a 
living thing was to be seen in or out of the water, 
and its heavy volume lay like a molten sea be- 
fore us. The gravity of the water is very 
great, and probably exceeds any other. It 
holds in solution a large quantity of chloride of 
calcium, magnesium and sodium, beside other 
properties. To the taste it is very salt, bitter 
and nauseous. The water was so remarkably 
clear and transparent, that one might well be 
tempted to suppose its taste as delicious to a 
thirsty traveller as its aspect was beautiful to 
behold. On scooping up my hand full, and 
taking a respectable quantity of it into my 
mouth, all such impressions were quickly dissi- 
pated. The sensation on the skin, too, is 



THE DEAD SEA. 

particularly stinging and unpleasant. This 
had to be endured till I found fresh water for 
washing at Jericho. 

The Dead Sea is forty miles in length, from 
north to south, its average width being ten to 
twelve miles. We had a fine view down a large 
part of its extent, as the atmosphere was perfect- 
ly clear. The higher ridges of the peninsula, 
which, from the eastern shore, projects into it, 
some thirty miles distant, appeared like two 
men-of-war anchored in the midst of the sea. 
The high and frowning ridges w T hich border it 
on the w r est are barren and desolate, the western 
hills being about fifteen hundred feet high, while 
the mountains of Moab and Amnion on the 
east, rise less precipitously two thousand to twenty- 
five hundred feet high. 

Drs. Robinson and Smith explored the south- 
ern and western shores, and Lt. Lynch and his 
party sounded the sea in its whole extent, from 
which it is ascertained that this northern portion 
of it is deep, corresponding somewhat with the 
height of the western hills, while at its southern 
extremity the waters are very shallow. In his 
narrative he remarks: " The inference from the 
Bible that this entire chasm was a plain sunk 
and overwhelmed by the wrath of God ? seems to 
be sustained by the extraordinary character of 
our soundings. The bottom of this sea con- 
sists of two submerged plains, an elevated and a 



346 



THE DEAD SEA. 



depressed one, the first averaging thirteen, the 
latter thirteen hundred feet below the surface. 
Through the northern and largest and deepest 
one, in a line corresponding with the bed of the 
Jordan, is a ravine which again seems to corres- 
pond with the Wady el Jeib, or a ravine within 
a rapine." 

We had no inducements to prosecute our 
journey in this region further. While explor- 
ing the southern extremity of the sea. and in 
close proximity to the salt mountains of Usdum, 
Lt. Lynch came upon a remarkable " pillar of I 
salt," which he thus describes: " Soon after, to j 
our astonishment, we saw on the eastern side 
of Usdum, one-third the distance from its north- 
ern extremity, a lofty round pillar standing ap- 
parently detached from the general mass, at the 
head of a deep, narrow and abrupt chasm. 
We immediately pulled in for the shore, and Dr. 
Anderson and I went up and examined it. The 
beach was a soft, slimy mud, incrustated with ] 
salt, and a short distance from the water covered 
with saline fragments and flakes of bitumen. 
We found the pillar to be of solid salt, capped 
with carbonate of lime, cylindrical in front, and 
pyramidal behind. The upper or rounded 
part is forty feet high, resting on a kind of oval 
pedestal from forty to sixty feet above the level 
of the sea. It slightly decreases in size up- 
wards, crumbles at the top, and is one entire 



THE DEAD SEA. 34:7 

mass of crystallization. A prop or buttress 
connects it with the mountain behind, and the 
whole is covered with debris of a light stone 
colour." 

On all the old maps that I have met, not ex- 
cepting those published by the American Sunday 
School Union, the Jordan and Dead Sea, as 
well as some other localities, are very erroneously 
exhibited. " The Cerographic Bible Atlas of 
S. E. Morse/ 5 and the Rev. 0. B. Bidwell's large 
" Missionary Map of Western Asia," as well as 
recent publications of the American Sunday 
School Union, are compiled from Dr. Robinson's 
map, and other reliable authorities; and on them 
they are more correctly delineated. 

We made search around the shores for bitu- 
men, but found none. It is rarely seen on this 
northern extremity of the lake. We found 
specimens of a black fetid limestone, strongly 
impregnated with sulphur. This stone is pro- 
cured here, and used at Jerusalem for ornamen- 
tal cups and vases which are sold to the pilgrims, 
and where we afterwards procured them wrought 
with considerable skill. 

We noticed driftwood on the shore 3 some of 
it deposited high up in time of sirocco storms. 
A taste of the water will quickly convince one 
that no living thing can exist beneath its surface. 
It has been said that birds do not fly around or 
over the sea. That is doubtless a mistake. 



348 



THE DEAD SEA. 



although we saw none. As the sea has no 
visible outlet, and the Jordan pours its unceasing 
volume into it, the inquiry is often made, what 
becomes of the water? The rapid processes of 
evaporation in this deep and heated chasm, is 
doubtless the true solution. Corking up with 
care a quart bottle of the water, that we might 
allow our friends personally to test its qualities, 
we remounted our horses at half-past two o'clock, 
P. M.j and returned to our encampment at 
J ericho, wilich we reached at half-past four 
o'clock, and remained for the night; from which 
place indications of an impending storm hastened 
our departure for Jerusalem, on the following 
morning, by the same route we have before de- 
scribed in our journey to Jericho. 



CHAPTEE XXXV. 



BETHLEHEM. 

Return from the Jordan — Continued walks about Zion — 
Preparations for journey — Departure from Jerusalem — 
Plaius of Rephaim — Wind storm — Tomb of Bachel — 
Arrival at Bethlehem — Convents and Church of the Na- 
tivity — Grotto of the Nativity — Cell of Jerome — Fields of 
Boaz — David anointed by Samuel- -Song of Angels. 

We returned in safety to Jerusalem, from our 
excursion to Jericho, the J ordan and Dead Sea, 
the incidents of which were well adapted to 
trace impressions not soon to be effaced. We 
were then busily occupied three days more in 
our walks about Zion, and in making some 
farther needful preparations to pursue the long 
journey still before us. We should be happy, 
did circumstances permit, to conduct our readers 
to many of the places of interest which engaged 
our attention in and around J erusalem, to which 
we have as yet not even made an allusion. We 
can merely recur to some of these. The "tombs 
of the Kings," as they are now designated, situ- 
ated half a mile north of the Damascus gate, 
are entered from a sunken court. The excava- 



350 BETHLEHEM. 

tions are extensive, and the sculpture well 
executed, more nearly rivalling those of Egypt 
than any others in the vicinity. They are re- 
ferred, with obvious propriety, to the Eoman 
period. We made a very interesting excursion 
to the tombs of the Judges, with numerous 
others, are found on the road to Neby Samuel, 
or the ancient Mizpeh. These, doubtless, be- 
long to an early period of Jewish history. At 
the distance of two miles from the city, we 
observed the debris of a former village. Mizpeh 
is nearly two hours distant, north by west, from 
the city, and is the highest point of land in the 
region. It would be a pleasant reminiscence to 
spread on our pages the outlines, at least, of an 
interesting and evangelical sermon listened to 
from the mouth of the Eev. Mr. Mcolayson, in 
the English chapel attached to the Consulate, 
on the northern end of Mount Zion. It was 
truly an interesting circumstance to hear the 
Gospel proclaimed in our own vernacular on the 
heights of Zion. 

We here desire to record, what we had reason 
so often to commend, as an honour to the 
British nation and its government. Wherever 
we found a British Ambassador residing, and 
also generally in every large city on the contin- 
ent of Europe, as well as in the Orient, where 
they have a Consul, there a chapel is sustained, 
in which the services of the Established Church 



BETHLEHEM. 



351 



are regularly administered by a stated chaplain, 
on the Sabbath, in the English tongue. We 
are glad to be able also to say, that we generally 
heard the truth plainly proclaimed from their 
pulpits. 

On Mount Zion, the Armenians have a very 
large Convent, in which they have extensive 
accommodation for pilgrims. Here, in their 
gorgeous chapel, we were shown a spot held by 
them in great veneration, as the place on which 
James, the brother of John, was executed by 
Herod Agrippa. Acts, 12: 1, 2. In this con- 
vent, great numbers of Oriental pilgrims are 
seen, in their various costumes, " Medes and 
Elamites and the dwellers in Mesopotamia/ 5 
and men from Mount Ararat and the regions of 
Kurdistan. 

We have no heart to ask the reader to look 
with us on the wretched leprous, as they stand 
near the Jaffa gate, begging alms, or in their 
miserable and assigned quarters, on the sides of 
Zion. Their condition is not only wretched, 
but hopeless, for there is no prophet divinely 
authorized to send them to Jordan's waters to 
wash and be clean. The mosque over the re- 
puted tomb of David, is on the top of Zion, 
south of the city walls. There, too, is the re- 
puted site of the house of Caiaphas. and near it 
the Armenian and Protestant cemetery. There 
we view the mountains east of the Dead Sea. 



352 



BETHLEHEM. 



The Latin Convent, near our quarters, on the 
sides of Acra, is a large establishment. In it 
the Monks carry on an extensive trade in rosar- 
ies and all manner of trinkets for Pilgrims. 

We are admonished that we took our pen to 
give some account of Bethlehem. Yet we feel 
assured that we need not apologize for having 
thus lingered around the Holy City. We are 
compelled, however, now to take an unwilling 
departure from its precincts. 

Bethlehem is two hours, or about six miles, 
south of Jerusalem. Our arrangements were 
all made to leave the city on the twenty-third 
day of January. The weather during the two 
weeks we had spent in the city, would well 
correspond to a New York October. The wind 
was blowing fresh from the south-west, and to 
our unpracticed eyes, there w r ere no pressing 
indications of a storm. We passed out at the 
Jaffa gate, and pursued the usual track toward 
Bethlehem, crossing the valley of Hinnom, near 
the point where the aqueduct of Solomon is 
brought over the valley to the sides of Zion, and 
passing up on the north side of " the Hill of 
Evil Council." We then came to the plains of 
Rephaim, the scene of two severe conflicts of 
David with the Philistines, II Samuel, 5: 18-22. 
On reaching this exposed place, we found that 
the wind had increased almost to a tempest, 
and it required great exertion for our ladies to 



BETHLEHEM. 



353 



keep upon their saddles and guide their unwil- 
ling horses in the face of the storm. In an 
hour after leaving the gates of the city, we 
reached the ruined convent of Mar Elyas, yet 
occupied and resorted to by pilgrims of the 
Greek church. Here we stopped a few minutes, 
and put on our India-Rubber overcoats to pro- 
tect us from the penetrating power of the wind 
storm. We had found little use for these gar- 
ments (so necessary to the traveller) before. 
This convent occupies a considerable swell of 
land, and on leaving it we had Bethlehem in 
view. Passing on down a moderate declivity 
we came to the Moslem Wely, which designates 
the reputed tomb of Rachel. We see no reason 
to call in question the authenticity of this spot. 
Here Jacob was suddenly called to part with 
his beloved Rachel, in circumstances of painful 
interest, which seem never to have lost their im- 
pression on the heart of the Patriarch. The 
child of her expiring agonies she called Ben-oni, 
— the son of my sorrow. But to Jacob, in his 
grief and loneliness, he proved a Benjamin, the 
son of the right hand. " And Rachel died and 
was buried in the way to Ephrath, v w r hich is 
Bethlehem. And Jacob set up a pillar upon 
her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave 
unto this day." Gen. 35: 16-20, and 48: 7. 
The rigour of the now impending rain storm 

compelled us to hasten forward as fast as pos- 

z 



354 BETHLEHEM. 

sible. and we happily reached the Latin or 
Franciscan convent and gained admission into 
it, ere the storm in all its violence burst upon us. 

The Church of the Nativity is one of the 
" Holy Places, 55 in Palestine, which in recent 
years have occupied so prominent a place in the 
politics of Europe, and on account of which the 
dogs of war have ostensibly been set loose. The 
church occupies the eastern termination of the 
high ridge on which the town is situated. It is 
virtually castellated by three great convents, 
and might well be mistaken for a formidable 
fortress. The large w 7 ing on the west and 
south belongs to the Armenians. The south- 
eastern part is that occupied by the Monks of 
the Greek Church. The north and eastern 
portion overhanging the deep valley on that side 
of the structure, by the Latins. With them we 
found very comfortable apartments, constructed 
and kept for the use of pilgrims of the higher 
classes, who visit Bethlehem. 

We entered the convent by a very low door, 
which led us directly into the nave of the church, 
now partitioned off from the transepts on account 
of its being the scene of such frequent and vio- 
lent feuds between the different Christian sects. 
The boys of the village find it a very convenient 
place to conduct their sports in stormy weather. 
The Church of the Nativity is the only one of 
the numerous edifices erected in Palestine over 



BETHLEHEM. 



355 



"holy places," by the Empress Helena, that has 
survived the vicissitudes of fifteen centuries. The 
convents which surround it are of much more 
recent origin. They appear well adapted to 
afford good accommodations for a large number 
of pilgrims. We were informed that the Greek 
and Armenian convents had each now only five 
or six monks permanently residing in them. 
There were ten or twelve Franciscans in the 
Latin convent. They have a chapel in their 
convent, on the north side of the church. The 
Greeks occupy the eastern portion, or high altar 
of the church, as their chapel; the Armenians, 
the north transept, from which there is a flight 
of stairs conducting to the Grotto of the nativity 
below. There is also a similar passage to the 
Grotto from the south transept, but this transept 
is little used for religious purposes. From it 
there is a passage into the Greek convent. The 
nave of the church is imposing. It has four 
rows of fine Corinthian columns, forty-eight in 
all. In the ceiling two or three large patches 
yet remain of the mosaics with which it was 
originally so magnificently adorned. Some of 
these mosaics are also seen in the north transept. 

The Grotto of the nativity is the chief place 
of attraction, and to which all the other parts 
are mere subordinate appendages, ft is reached 
by the winding flight of stairs from the transepts, 
as we have before remarked. 



BETHLEHEM. 



On our first visit to this interesting spot, the 
identity of which we shall not stop to discuss, 
w r e w T ere conducted by a Franciscan monk 
through a subterranean passage leading from 
their convent, or rather the chapel of St. Katha- 
rine, to the Grotto. Each one of our party was 
furnished with a lighted wax taper of a consider- 
able size, one of which, as a matter of curiosity, 
we now have. The Grotto is adorned by num- 
erous rich silver lamps, suspended from the 
ceiling, always lighted. A small alcove, or 
niche, overhung with lamps, on the pavement of 
which is a large stair, inlaid, marks the place 
where you are told that the infant Saviour was 
born. A short distance on the right of this, 
but excavated a little lower out of the lime-stone 
rock, is the reputed manger (a large alabaster 
trough) where he was laid. In this place the 
three leading sects named claim concurrent 
rights, or rather enjoy them, as they alternate 
in the use of the apartment in their daily pre- 
scribed acts of worship. 

From the Grotto of the Nativity we were 
conducted to the cell where J erome took up his 
residence about A. D. 386. Here he remained 
thirty-six years, until the day of his death. It 
was in this cell that he translated the Bible from 
its original language into the Latin, his labours 
in this department being the foundation of the 
Latin Vulgate version of the Holy Scriptures. 



L_ 



BETHLEHEM. 



357 



Here, too, the tombs of Jerome and Eusebius are 
shown to the traveller. From the flat roof of 
the convent we had a fine view of the "Frank 
Mountain," and beyond it, on the east, the Dead 
Sea and mountains of Moab were full in our 
view. 

Bethlehem is wholly occupied by a Christian 
population. They manufacture, with consider- 
able skill, many articles, for sale to the numer- 
ous pilgrims who visit the convents. Their 
dress is a little peculiar, as the stripes in the 
loose over-coat, or aba, does not reach to its 
bottom, as is usual among the Arabs. 

We should have left Palestine w 7 ith very inad- 
equate impressions in regard to the severities of 
the winter, which occasionally for short periods 
are there experienced, if the storm of which we 
have spoken had not occurred until we had 
reached the Philistine plain. 

The rain, which compelled us to take shelter 
in the convent, soon turned to snow, and the tem- 
pest without raged with great violence for nearly 
two days. Ps. 147: 16, 17. This, with the inter- 
vening of the Sabbath, detained us in the con- 
vent full four days, affording ample time to 
review the historic events which have made 
Bethlehem memorable in the annals of sacred 
history. 

It was an interesting train of thought, as we 
looked down on the long, steep and fertile val- 



358 



BETHLEHEM. 



ley. which extends eastward from the northerly 
side of the convent, to infer that these, perhaps, 
were the rich fields of Boaz. where Ruth, the 
Moabitish damsel, gleaned from the gathering 
barley harvest of the wealthy kinsman of her 
deceased husband. 

Here, too, perhaps, it was that her great- 
grandson, the youthful David, was found, when 
Samuel came to Bethlehem to anoint one of the 
sons of Jesse as the future king of Israel. "And 
Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy chil- 
dren? And he said there remaineth yet the 
youngest, and behold he keepeth the sheep. 
And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch 
him: for we will not sit dow T n till he come hither, 
And he sent and brought him in. Now 7 he was 
ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance 
and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, 
Arise, anoint him: for this is he." 1 Sam. 16: 
11, 12. "He choose David also his servant, 
and took him from the sheep folds: From follow- 
ing ewes great with young, he brought him to 
feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheri- 
tance." Ps. 78: 70, 71. 

It is down in this valley of which we have 
spoken, at the distance of less than a mile east 
from the convent, that tradition has long pointed 
as the place where, ten centuries later, there 
were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping 
watch of their flocks by night. A night the 



BETHLEHEM. 



359 



most memorable in time's annals! " And lo, the 
angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory 
of the Lord shone round about them, and they 
were sore afraid. And the angel said unto 
them, Fear not: for behold I bring you good 
tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people; 
For unto you is born this day in the city of 
David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord!" 



CHAPTEE XXXVL 

JOURNEY TO HEBRON. THE CAVE OF MACHPELAH. 

Eemarks of Dr. Paley on the Scriptures — Their pertinency 
—Tested by the Traveller in Palestine — Departure from 
Bethlehem— Pools of Solomon — Lunch at Bethzur — An- 
cient tombs — Yiew of Mediterranean — Yalley of Eschol — 
Arrival at Hebron — Tomb of Abraham — Our view of the 
Yalley — A night at Hebron. 

Ik reference to the sacred Scriptures of the 
Old and New Testament, Dr. Paley has finely 
remarked: " When we open these ancient vol- 
umes, we discover in them marks of truth, 
whether we consider each in itself, or collate 
them one with another. The writers certainly 
knew something of what they were writing about, 
for they manifest an acquaintance with local cir- 
cumstances, with the history and usages of the 
times, which could only belong to an inhabitant 
of that country, living in that age. In every 
narrative we perceive simplicity and undesigned- 
ness; the air and the language of reality. 5 ' 

The pertinency of these observations, every 
Biblical student who has travelled in Palestine 
will have constant occasion to observe. The 



THE CAVE OF MACHPELAH. 361 

incidental evidences of the credibility and faith- 
fulness of the sacred historians is remarkable. 
The fact will often be most pleasingly brought 
to the notice of the traveller, who will collate, 
and carefully read the narrative portions of the 
Scriptures on the localities described. 

Much information illustrative of the historic 
and narrative portions of Scripture, is yet to be 
derived from the observations of those who visit 
Palestine, and other parts connected with Bibli- 
cal history. A knowledge of the physical 
structure of the country in general, or of partic- 
ular localities, when well understood, will often 
add new interest to the narrative, and delight to 
the Scripture student. 

Who that has ever stood on that rocky emi- 
nence, " Mars Hill, 1 ' and there read the seven- 
teenth chapter of Acts, with those very 
" temples made with hands" before him, to which 
reference is made, but has felt, that never before 
had he adequately appreciated the power of 
Paul's eloquent address to his Athenian au- 
dience? 

It is not an easy task adequately to pourtray 
the impressions that crowd upon the mind of the 
traveller as he visits such places as Oarmel, 
whence the servant of Elijah " looked toward the 
sea,"" and beheld the cloud rising, "like a man's 
hand,*" from the spreading circle of which, tor- 
rents of rain soon deluged the plain over which 



362 



jour:s~ey to hebro^ — 



Ahab's chariot sped, while i; Elijah girded up 
his loins and ran before him to the entrance of 
Jezreel;" the Well of Jacob, at which was held 
that wonderful conversation with the woman of 
Samaria; or the " Wilderness of Judea," whence 
were heard the first notes of the harbinger of 
Messiah! 

It was not until we had slept in the vale of 
Mamre, and rose " up early in the morning' 5 to 
contemplate the scene, that we appreciated the 
reason why " Abraham gat up early in the 
morning to the place where he stood before the 
Lord, 55 and there beheld the evidences of that 
ruin which had overwhelmed the cities of the 
plain. In each of these, and numerous other 
instances, if I mistake not, a knowledge of local 
relations adds peculiar interest to the related in- 
cidents. 

We rose at a very early hour on the morning 
of the twenty-eighth of January, to prepare for 
our departure from Bethlehem. Owing to the 
characteristic tardiness of our muleteers, it was 
eight o'clock when we were all ready to leave 
the Convent and begin our journey to Hebron. 
The sun shone brightly, but the night had been 
cold, so that ice had been formed, and much of 
the snow that had fallen in the recent storm still 
remained upon the ground. With no facilities 
for warming' their dwellings, and no wood for 
fuel if they had, it is a mercy that in Palestine, 



THE CAVE OF MACHPELAH. 363 

they have but little weather when the thermom- 
eter falls below freezing point. As we saw the 
villagers walking around on the snow with bare 
feet, or at best, with low slippers that hardly 
protected the foot from contact with the snow 
and ice, we thought they must be ready feeling- 
ly to say with the Psalmist, " Who can stand 
before his cold!" The village was made cheer- 
ful by multitudes of all ages, on the flat roofs of 
their houses, engaged in the amusement, which 
they probably do not often enjoy, of snow- balling. 
At a few minutes before ten o'clock, we reached 
the " Pools of Solomon." Here are three large 
reservoirs, supposed to be those referred to in 
Ecclesiastes, 2: 6. " I made me pools of water, 
to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth 
trees." They were in part supplied by a sunken 
fountain north-west of them, at a short distance. 

They are situated at the head of a narrow 
valley. The upper or north-western reservoir 
is entirely artificial in its construction. As 
measured by Dr. Robinson, (and we did not think 
it worth while to take a cane of uncertain length, 
as did a worthy English Peer, now no more, to 
test the accuracy of his account,) the upper pool 
is three hundred and eighty feet long, about two 
hundred and thirty feet wide, and averaging from 
fifteen to twenty-five feet deep. The middle pool 
is one hundred and sixty feet distant from the 
upper or northern reservoir. It is four hundred 



364 



JOURNEY TO HEBRON^ 



and twenty-three feet long. In width it varies 
between two hundred and fifty feet at its eastern 
end, and one hundred and fifty feet at the west- 
ern end, and fourteen to forty feet deep. The 
lower pool is five hundred and eighty-two feet 
long, two hundred and seven feet wide at its 
eastern end, and one hundred and forty-eight at 
its western end, and fifty feet deep at the east- 
ern end. 

The two last-named reservoirs are formed in 
the narrow valley by strong walls of mason- 
work at the ends of each. There is a large 
Saracenic fortress or khan, immediately north of 
the upper pool, which we did not stop particu- 
larly to examine. The country between Beth- 
lehem and these pools is exceedingly rocky, some 
of the hills appearing mere masses of broken 
stones. 

Prosecuting our journey over a pathway na- 
turally bad enough, but now T made more difficult 
by frequent drifts of snow, at 12 o'clock, M., we 
had come to a district where the hills assumed 
a more gentle formation, and were covered to a 
considerable extent with small scrub oak. At 
this point we passed the ruins of a town, near 
which there was an olive orchard of some extent. 
In half an hour more we had ruined towers upon 
a hill on our right. 

At two o'clock, P. M., we rested, and ate our 
lunch at a small fountain on the site of a former 



THE CAVE OF MACHPELAH. 



365 



town, Bethzur or Durwih. Here we noticed 
quite a number of tombs excavated in the rock. 
They were obviously of early Jewish origin. In 
half an hour we resumed our journey. The 
snow covered much of the ground with increased 
depth, and our pathway was bad in the extreme. 
There never could have been a carriage track 
over the region between Bethlehem and Hebron. 

At half-past three o'clock, w r e gained an ele- 
vation where we had the Mediterranean in view 
on our right, in the north-west. We had now 
approached within about four miles of Hebron. 
This whole region is very elevated, being nearly 
three thousand feet above the Mediterranean. 

At a few minutes before four o'clock we 
reached and followed down a valley, the sides of 
which were covered with extensive vineyards. 
This valley extends south and south-east. A 
small stream was running through its bottom, 
which forms the pathway or road to Hebron. 
On each side of the road are high stone walls to 
protect the vineyards, which extend, I judged, at 
least a mile and a half, and to within half a mile 
of the Hebron, where the valley runs in a more 
south-easterly direction. These vineyards are 
of great antiquity, and may well be supposed to 
occupy the spot where the spies, sent out by 
Moses, came, in their search of the land — the 
valley or brook Eschol, whence they procured 
the rich cluster of grapes, which gave assurance 



366 JOURNEY TO HEBRON, 

to the tribes of a land before tliem flowing with 
" milk and honey." Num. 13: 23, 24, There 
are numerous small watch-towers in these vine- 
yards, occupied in the month of vintage. Matt. 
21: 33. 

It was nearly five o'clock, P. M., when we 
entered Hebron, a place venerable in its anti- 
quity, and peculiarly endeared as the dwelling 
place of Abraham, the father of the faithful. 
Here we have reason to believe his tomb has re- 
mained reverenced and undisturbed amid the 
vicissitudes of forty centuries — that very cave of 
Machpelah, which Abraham bought, with the 
field, of Ephron the Hittite, for a possession of a 
burying-place. " There," says the dying Jacob, 
"they buried Abraham, and Sarah his wife; 
there they buried Isaac, and Rebecca his wife; 
and there I buried Leah." Gen. 49: 30, 31. 

Our dragoman had preceded us, and secured 
quarters in the house of an intelligent J ew, re- 
siding in the western part of the town, not far 
distant from its entrance. Our host held the 
office of scribe at the Lazaretto. All travellers 
arriving from Mount Sinai have here to pass 
their quarantine. The top of our house afford- 
ed a good view of a part of the valley of Mamre, 
and of the town. We made no explorations on 
the evening of our arrival; we rose, however, at 
an early hour the ensuing morning to view the 
scene, and then prosecute our journey. 



THE CAYE OF MACHPELAH. 



367 



The most memorable event in the history of 
Hebron, was that recorded in the eighteenth of 
Genesis. In the commencement of our chapter 
we have referred to the impression which we 
here received, as we read this narrative recorded 
by Moses, and its context in the subsequent 
chapter, particularly when we came to the inci- 
dental statement that " Abraham gat up early in 
the morning to the place where he stood before 
the Lord." Gen. 19: 27. 

We left our quarters at eight o'clock, A. M., 
and rode through the town and its covered baz- 
ars, to the great Mosque, — the tombs of the 
Patriarchs, now venerated by the Mohammedans 
as one of their most sacred places. We enter- 
tain very little doubt that the exterior walls of 
this enclosure were the work of David or Solo- 
mon. It has been well described as having the 
appearance of a large and lofty building, in the 
form of a parallelogram, two hundred feet long, 
by one hundred and fifty feet in breadth. The 
walls are from fifty to sixty feet high, built of 
large stones, all bevelled and hewn smooth, and 
similar in all respects to the most ancient parts 
of the wall around the temple area on Mount 
Moriah. No Christian can enter this sacred 
enclosure, but at the certain peril of his life. It 
has been described as having within it distinct 
tombs, richly adorned, of the Patriarchs and 
their wives. We hope the day is not distant 



368 J0UENEY TO HEBRON, THE CAVE OF MACHPELAH. 

when the arm of the Moslem's power shall be 
broken, and the true children of Abraham gain 
an unobstructed entrance to these venerable rel- 
ics of a far- distant age. 

We hardly need remark, that the minarets 
and turreting, as well as the battlements at the 
top of the wall, belong to the Mohammedan pe- 
riod. We regard this monument as the most 
ancient, as well as best authenticated, in Pales- 
tine. 



CHAPTEE XXXVIJ. 



PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH. 

Topography and seasons in Palestine — Their relation to 
Biblical exegesis — Philip at Samaria — His journey — Joins 
the Ethiopian Eunuch — The Eunuch baptized — Manner of 
its performance considered — A night on the Plain — Wady 
Sim Sim — Dr. Eobinson at Wady El Hasy — Climate and 
seasons unchanged. 

That the topography and the seasons of 
Palestine are interesting topics for consideration, 
in their relation to Biblical exegesis, will not be 
doubted by him who ingenuously searches for 
truth. We have, however, affecting and 
abounding proof that such is the infirmity of 
men, and even good men, that, when once com- 
placently settled on the assumptions of infalli- 
bility of some favourite ism, all the analogies of 
nature and providence which confront a dogma 
of sectarianism, have no power to disturb or con- 
vince those who, a priori, have resolved not to 
be convinced or disturbed. 

We have a thorough conviction that the to- 
pography and seasons of Palestine, in their re- 
lation to the controverted topic of Christian 

2 A 



370 



PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH. 



Baptism, have not been adequately appreciated; 
and we are well persuaded that here is an ample 
field for abler hands. We have trod over the 
scenes where John the Baptist heralded the 
Messiah, and baptized his disciples; to the con- 
sideration of which we have asked the attention 
of our readers in a previous chapter. We have 
contemplated this subject with deep interest, in 
the streets and by the pools and fountains of 
Jerusalem, where, on the day of Pentecost, three 
thousand were baptized on one day by the 
apostles; we have stood on " the hill Samaria," 
where, upon the persecution that scattered the 
disciples abroad, Philip remained and preached 
J esus. We purpose now to ask the attention 
of our readers to a consideration of the interest- 
ing incident indicated — Philip and the Eunuch 
— and shall attempt to follow the Evangelist in 
the mission to which he is divinely directed. 
" And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip 
saying, Arise and go toward the south, unto the 
way that goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza, 
which is desert/' The journey here indicated^ 
would occupy three or four days; and we may 
follow him in its progress, in our imagination. 
No doubt the thrilling incidents of the last few 
weeks, occupy much of his thoughts — the mar- 
tyrdom of Stephen — the manner in which the 
" scattering abroad'' of the disciples under recent 
persecutions, had been overruled to advance the 



PHILIP AXD THE EUNUCH. 



371 



cause of Messiah, especially the success attend- 
ant on his own recent labours among the Sam- 
aritans. In view of which he recollects those 
intimations of mercy in ancient prophecy: "How 
shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I 
deliver thee, Israel? How shall I make thee 
as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? 
My heart is turned within me, my repentings 
are kindled together." As he ponders, his 
bosom swells with hope for the future, for he has 
heard the response: " Ephraim shall say, "What 
have I to do any more w r ith Idols?" Jer. 31: 18, 
21. Perhaps his thoughts linger on promises 
of a wider scope, such as that in Ps. 68: 31, 
" Princes shall come out of Egypt — Ethiopia 
shall soon stretch out her hands unto God."*' As 
he proceeds, his attention is arrested by the 
distant chariot of a stranger. Now he has a 
heavenly intimation of the object of his mission 
— : " Go join thyself to this chariot.'' He 
preaches Jesus unto the inquiring proselyte of 
the gate, acquaints him w r ith his offices and 
character: " Wounded for our transgressions, 
bruised for our iniquities — brought as a lamb 
to the slaughter' — The Lamb of God thus 
taking away the sin of the w 7 orld — explains to 
him the doctrines, as w r ell as external symbols 
of the Gospel, and as they " w r ent on their way," 
the believing Eunuch exclaims: " See, here is 
water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? " 



372 



PHILIP AND TEE EUNUCH. 



Let us now take a glance at the region of 
country in which this interesting incident oc- 
curred, and judge of the weight of evidence it 
may afford in regard to the manner in which 
this rite was administered by Philip. 

It was after a detention of four days in the 
Latin convent at Bethlehem, by a severe storm, 
to which we have referred in a previous chapter, 
and which terminated in snow of considerable 
depth on the mountains of Judea, that we pro- 
ceeded to Hebron; and the following day, re- 
tracing our steps a small part of the distance, 
we dropped down a steep Wady into the Philis- 
tine plain, and from a wintry climate, in three 
or four hours found one, if not tropical, as 
mild as our May or June weather. 

We were now nearly or quite in " the way 
that goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza. 5 '* 
"We passed Beit Jibrin, or Eleutheropolis, on our 
left, at three o'clock, P. M., and found our- 
selves in a region of comparative fertility as 
well as warmth. The mode of cultivation is 
still primitive, and exceedingly rude, with no 
attempts to enrich the soil by manuring; yet 
here, as elsewhere on the plain, we had evi- 
dence of its fruitfulness, after the lapse of four 
thousand years of cultivation. From these 
wide plains, the country, in the days of regal 
splendour, must have derived a large portion of 
the means of subsistence. 



PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH. 



373 



We directed our course over the now gently- 
rolling prairie land, to a miserable flat-roofed 
Arab village, called Zatta, situated on a mound, 
apparently much of it the accumulated filth of 
ages. It would seem probable that this may 
have been the Jattir of Joshua, 21: 14. Here 
we took up our quarters for the night; and as 
there were strong indications of rain, rather than 
trust our tents, we selected the best room the 
village afforded, in which to take shelter. This 
was the granary of the Sheikh of the village — 
a rudely constructed, low, domeroofed stone 
building, measuring ten feet square; in this w T e 
had to contrive to arrange our five cot bed- 
steads, for our party of three ladies and two 
gentlemen. But here Arab hospitality inter- 
posed — a small and filthy yard separated the 
granary from the palace, and the wife of the 
Sheikh kindly invited us gentlemen to take up 
our quarters in the apartments of the Prince. 

Judging from external appearances, we 
thought proper to decline the kind invitation. 
Soon the curtains of night gathered around — 
our beds and baggage adjusted — the luxurious 
dinner disposed of, which Abdal, with his usual 
expertness, had provided — the eager curiosity of 
the villagers gratified, in seeing us infidels eat 
around a table, and with knives and forks; and 
they dispersed to their miserable hovels. It oc- 
curred to us that now it might be well, just to 



374: 



PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH. 



take a look into the quarters of our host, whose 
apartment, though more rude, was somewhat 
larger than our own. 

A small brush-wood fire was kindled on a 
slight elevation, and the family circle were 
seated on the ground around it. The bright 
blaze lighted the countenances of the inmates, 
and we were tempted to count them. Three 
men, two w T omen, and divers children composed 
the bipeds; the placid face of a crouched camel, 
ruminating his cud close to the blaze, was 
among the most thoughtful objects of the scene. 
The dogs and fleas had adjusted themselves to 
their liking, and the background was graced 
with the presence of three cows and a calf. 
Thus provided, the parties soon laid themselves 
down on the ground floor for the night. SFo 
necessity for undressing exists, or is thought of. 
Such is Arab life; such the incidents of travel. 
But to return from this long episode. At an 
early hour on the following morning we pro- 
ceeded on our journey over the Philistine plain. 
Take the best authenticated map of this region, 
and with the exception of two or three mill 
streams that flow to the Mediterranean from the 
hills of Samaria, you will find no stream of any 
magnitude in the whole extent of country from 
Oarmel to " the Eiver of Egypt/' This latter, 
like most others laid down as rivers on our 
maps, is but a dry Wady, except immediately 



PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH. 375 

subsequent to violent rains, and it would be a 
severe task for the advocates of baptism by im- 
mersion, to tell where, in all this region, they 
can find a living stream, or any other body of 
water suited to their purpose. 

The Wady Sim Sim, and others tributary to 
it, is now, and has no doubt ever been, the only 
drainage of a large extent of this part of the 
Philistine plain, as the Wady Sheriah is of the 
region south of Gaza. This particular region 
is regarded as that indicated by Luke, in the 
case in question; and it is quite as favourable 
for the advocates of immersion as any part of 
the plain; moreover, it has a special advantage 
to which I shall now refer. 

Our excellent friends, Drs. Eobinson and 
Smith, were at Tell el Hasey late in the month 
of May, 1838, and Dr. Robinson, in a note, 
appended to Vol. II, of his accurate and invalu- 
able " Researches,'" designed to illustrate the 
incident under consideration, speaks of seeing 
water then in the adjacent Wady. This casual 
note has been quoted to me, and no doubt to 
others, 44 as proof, strong as sacred w r rit," even 
that of Luke himself, to confirm the assumptions 
of our Baptist Brethren. And I have no doubt 
both are cited with equal propriety. 

This Wady el Hasey, referred to by Dr. 
Robinson, empties into the Wady Sim Sim, 
some eight or ten miles westward of the place 



376 



PHILIP AND THE EUmiCH. 



referred to by him. Now, it was on the 
thirtieth day of January, in the midst of the 
rainy season, and shortly after the severe storm 
before referred to, that, proceeding on our way 
to Gaza, we travelled for a considerable distance 
along the deep and dry bed of the Wady Sim 
Sim, and crossed it at a point some miles below 
the junction of the Wady el Hasey. And I have 
the best authority for believing, and saying, that 
the water referred to in Dr. Eobinson's note, 
was but a shallow sheet of water standing in the 
otherwise (at the time) dry bed of the Wady el 
Hasey, and it was not noticed in any respect to 
ratify the dogma, for which it has been so con- 
fidently cited. 

I have noticed similar small and shallow 
sheets of water, clear and exceedingly salt, 
standing, even in the desert, on a hard clay-pan 
bottom, subsequent to a rain, and which would 
remain until exhausted by evaporation. After 
a severe rain storm of two or three days, our 
party left Gaza on our way to Egypt. In about 
an hour we reached the " Wady Sheriah," then 
quite a stream of shallow and exceedingly 
muddy water rushing down its bed; but from 
personal observation, and the information of 
others at the time, I have reason to believe we 
should have found an almost, if not entirely 
dry bed, had we crossed it one or two days 
later. 



PHILIP AND THE EUmTCH. 



377 



Let it be remembered, too, that it is only in 
the rainy season that these wadies have any 
water in them, and for a large part of the year 
they are perfectly dry. Much less water us- 
ually falls here, even in the rainy season, than 
in the more northern parts of Palestine. Xor 
have we any ground for believing that, in this 
respect, there has been any material change in 
the seasons, or the general aspect of the country, 
in the lapse of ages. 

It is mere assertion, without evidence, and 
against evidence, to say that any great physical 
vicissitudes have affected this region. If the 
length of this article did not forbid it, I think 
this could be easily made apparent. 

In view of these general features of the 
country, what other inference can an impartial 
mind draw, than that the baptism of the Eunuch 
by Philip was by the effusion or sprinkling of 
water; and had Dr. Robinson, when at Tell el 
Hasey, found a believing Ethiopian, they might 
both have well gone down to the water he saw, 
and he have baptized the convert and come up 
from its performance, quite prepared, without 
change of raiment, to proceed " on their way 
rejoicing" in the triumphs of divine grace. 



CHAPTEE XXXVIII. 



A SCENE ON THE DESERT J OR, THE MUSIC OF THE 
SPHERES. 

Philistine plain — Arrival at Gaza — Dismissal of horse and 
muleteers — Sheikh engaged to conduct to Egypt — Gaza — 
Departure — Arrival at El Arisch — River of Egypt — Quar- 
antine — Proceed on our journey — Scenes on the Desert. 

The villages on the Philistine plain are gen- 
erally composed of mere mud hovels, closely 
compacted on some mound or swell of the un- 
dulating plain. The population in the aggregate 
must be numerous. They have many horned 
cattle, and some flocks of sheep and goats as 
well as camels. The camel is very often seen 
before the plough. 

We arrived at Gaza on the thirtieth day of 
January. Here we dismissed our horses and 
muleteers, and engaged a Sheikh of one of the 
villages in the vicinity to furnish camels, and 
convey us over the desert to Cairo. 

The intervening of a violent rain storm, and 
delays incident to our preparations for the 
journey, detained us in Gaza four days. 



OR, THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES. 379 

This ancient stronghold of the Philistines is 
situated in lat. 31° 30' N. It occupies a 
rounded elevation, some forty or fifty feet above 
the plain. There are mounds of debris in the 
immediate vicinity of the town. Here is a 
large khan, and two or three Mosques, which, 
in other ages were, without doubt, erected for 
Christian churches. From the minarets, the 
shrill voice of the Muezzin was heard almost 
over our heads, in the place we occupied, calling 
the unthinking Arab to arise and attend to his 
devotions, in language a part of which might 
well ring in the ears of those who profess the 
pure faith of the Gospel. "There is no God 
but God, and Mohammed is the prophet of 
God." In the early morn he adds to the usual 
cry, " It is better to pray than to sleep." We 
looked around for the gates and pillars that 
Samson removed, but found nothing more nearly 
identifying them than one or two fine dark 
granite columns, which lay outside of the town. 
On the plain north of Gaza there is one of the 
finest Olive groves we have ever seen, and in its 
immediate vicinity there are evidences of much 
fertility. The desert, however, is partially de- 
veloped around, and soon after leaving Gaza, in 
travelling south, you find yourself in a measure 
amid its wastes. There is more or less cultiva- 
tion, from which a few villagers gain a scanty 
subsistence, exten ding a day's j ourney on the south. 



oSO 



A SCEXE ON THE DESERT; 



Our caravan, on leaving Gaza, consisted of 

fifteen camels, attended by six Arab mukris or 
camel drivers. In an hour and a half after leaving 
Gaza we crossed the Wady Sheriah. Six hours 
from Gaza we encamped for the night, at a short 
distance beyond Khan Yunas. another tradi- 
tional landing place of Jonah. As we rode 
through this considerable village, we heard., 
what may often be done in passing an Arab 
town, i6 women grinding at the mill." Jer. 25: 
10. In our travels hitherto we had failed to 
witness this primitive process of grinding their 
grain. I therefore sent into the village to have 
some of their women come to our camp in the 
morning with their mill, and grind for us. with ; 
the promise of Bakshish. As the wise man's 
proverb, 4J money can do all things." never fails 
with the Arab, at early morn we were gratified 
by the approach to our tents of the villagers 
with their mill stones. They consist of two 
circular stones, about two feet in diameter and 
six inches in thickness, the upper and nether 
mill stones. Job, 41: 24. A piece of coarse 
cloth about three feet square is laid on the 
ground, on the centre of which the stones are 
placed. The nether or lower stone is convex 
on its upper surface, the other concave on its 
lower face to fit it. The upper stone has a 
hole through the centre, into which one of the 
women, as she sits by it, slowly drops the grain, 



OR, THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES. 



381 



while the other, seated opposite, turns around 
the top stone by means of a stick inverted in a 
hole near the outer edge of the stone. The 
meal drops from the edges of the stones on 
the cloth below. Matt. 24: 41.— Isaiah, 47: 2. 
We took care to preserve a good sample of the 
meal thus ground for us. 

On the third day after our departure from 
Gaza, we reached El- Arisen, the ancient Rino- 
colura. This was a place of exile for respited 
malefactors in the time of the Pharaohs, w 7 ho 
had their noses cut off as a commutation pun- 
ishment with banishment, in place of the death 
penalty, from which circumstance it had its 
name. Just before our arrival at El- Arisen, 
we crossed the bed of the dry Wady of that 
name, designated on maps and referred to, Gen. 
15: 18, as "the River of Egypt." 

Here we were required to perform in our 
own tents a quarantine of five days, before tak- 
ing our departure for Egypt, when we resumed 
our journey. 

It was a bright morning, the fourteenth of 
February, and we rose long before the sun, 
hoping to start our caravan at an early hour. 
Haste, however, is not a word in the Arab's 
vocabulary, or if it is, he never acts under its 
influence. " He takes no note of time;" and 
whether your journey be accomplished in two 
weeks or four, is all the same to him. 



382 A SCEXE ON THE DESERT J 

By dint of effort and some resolute complaints, 
our baggage camels were loaded, and a little 
before eight o'clock, ours were mounted, and we 
were again rocking on these "ships of the 
desert." 

The day proved very fine, the monotony of 
the desert was relieved by the sight of several 
small groves of the date-bearing palm, situated 
in deep depressions, that receive the drainage 
of the surrounding sands. 

At eleven o'clock, A. M., we had reached 
Katieh, a place where there is a well of brackish 
water, which can be drank in cases of extremity. 

Our camels had been three or four days with- 
out water, yet they exhibited no signs of thirst, 
and drank very sparingly at the well. In the 
palmy days of Mohammed Ali, he had here 
erected extensive troughs for watering caravans. 
The well, which probably has a very early date, 
is now partially filled up, and every thing around 
is going to decay. A few wandering Arabs 
find a scanty subsistence in this region; their 
women, dressed in a dark blue cotton frock, and 
shawl or scarf of the same material over their 
heads — the attire of the Arab women of the 
desert — had preceded us at the well, and were 
leaving with their heavy jars upon their heads. 

Our course now lay over a most desolate 
region of shifting sands; the leaflless shrub that 
had generally, here and there, relieved the utter 



Oft, THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES. 383 

nakedness of the desert, in past days, now 
almost entirely disappeared. As the sun de- 
clined we found it difficult to select a place for 
encampment where we could safely pitch our 
tents, secure from the danger of being blown 
down, from the want of solid earth or sand on 
which to drive our tent pegs. At a late hour 
we gathered up, under the lee of a high sand 
hill. 

Our camels crouched, and were speedily re- 
lieved of their loads, and as usual quickly dis- 
persed, to browse on the shrubs that might be 
found, but soon returned from the fruitless 
search, to the encampment. 

The forethought of our Arabs had led them, 
early in the afternoon, to secure some light 
shrubs and roots for their camp fire, with which 
to bake their unleavened cake for their evening 
meal. 

The darkness of night had gathered around 
us before Abdal, our worthy Nubian cook, had 
served his soup, and we partaken of our dinner. 
On rising from our table, we found the stars 
shining with all the brightness of an eastern 
sky. An equilibrium had come in the atmos- 
phere, and every thing favoured an experiment 
we had been anxious to make. 

A scientific traveller had intimated a re- 
markable phenomenon — the noise produced by 
the circulation of the blood, realized no where 



384 



A SCENE ON THE DESERT; 



but on the desert, and in circumstances which 
we were now able to test. 

A physician of distinction and intelligence 
composed one of our party, and at his sugges- 
tion we retired from our encampment. The 
scene behind us was full of interest, and such as 
w T e had often before enjoyed — a distant night- 
view of our encampment. Our lighted tents, 
our crouched camels around, their legs folded 
beneath them, and more than all, the circle of 
seated, or reclining Arabs — their visages lit 
up, as they were spread around their camp 
fire, and partook of their simple repast, 
What a sketch for a painter's skill? would that 
I had it vividly portrayed with a master's pencil! 

But to return: leaving our camp in the dis- 
tance, quite out of reach of the least ruffle of 
sound, or jar upon the now hushed atmosphere 
— overwhelming, awfal stillness. 

We looked out upon the same glorious con- 
stellations that were pressed upon the attention 
of Job of old, when the Lord would make him 
feel his impotence and insignificance, no less 
than his guilt as a sinner: " Oan'st thou bind up 
the swept influence of Pleiades? or loose the 
bands of Orion?" 

" The seven daughters of Atlas" led the 
gorgeous train; Orion's giant form was full 
above us. 

" His golden girdle glittered in our sight," 



OR; THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES. 



3S5 



and SiRiUS poured forth his unrivalled beams, 
with their ever-burning splendour. The ele- 
ments were all hushed to silence; not a jar to 
interrupt 

"The Music of the Spheres;" and the 
bright orbs moved on in glorious harmony: 

u For ever singing as they shine 
The hand that made us is divine." 

But arrived at our farthest destination, — "Now 
hush, hush one and all" — every breath sup- 
pressed my glorious Creator, how wonderful? 

u Heaven, earth and sea, and fire and air, 
Proclaim thy wondrous skill, 
But I survey myself and find, 
Diviner wonders still." 

What mortal can long endure the sensations 
now realized! The rushing blood that sweeps 
through my veins, especially through the head, 
has waked up a sound within me, like the rush- 
ing of many waters! — a minute's endurance, and 
each exclaims, " How wonderful." 

With a delight that can well be imagined, 
we slowly returned to our tents; the phenomenon, 
hardly believed, had been realized most satis- 
factorily. 

Who shall say that any part of creation is 
void of interest? We found much every day to 
excite attention, and repay the toils of the 
Desert. 

2 B 



CHAPTER XXITX. 

THE MIRAGE OF THE DESERT. 

We had traversed that region of the desert 
which constitutes the dividing line of the two 
continents. Imperceptibly we had stepped out 
of Asia, and were fairly upon African soil. On 
this desolate waste we had listened in the hushed 
stillness of night to " the music of the spheres,' 1 
or rather to that more wonderful phenomenon, 
the rush of life's vital fluid through its circuit- 
ous channels. In this we remain conscious of 
no illusion, incredible as the announcement may 
have appeared. 

We were soon, however, to experience one of 
the most remarkable illusions of nature, the 
mirage of the desert, — an illusion so perfect as 
to have often conveyed disappointment and dis- 
may to the wandering and famished traveller, 
who, when suffering under the maddening in- 
fluence of a burning thirst, thinks, at last, he 
has espied a lake of exhaustless plenty to slake 
his consuming desire. Fallacious hope! How 



THE MIRAGE OF THE DESERT. 



387 



soon to be dissipated, again to be tantalized 
with new visions of beauty and abundance, 
almost within his reach — fit illustration of that 
ideal bliss which glares along on the devious 
pathway of the bewildered votaries of pleasure, 
but whose anticipated joys so often fade from 
their grasp in the moment of their embrace. 

Their are two distinctive characteristics of 
the desert, — the one, sandy and more or less 
shifting on its surface; the other, a hard pan, 
and besprinkled with pebbles. As far as my 
observation has extended, it is only on the hard 
and pebbly desert that this optical illusion, 
mirage, has been experienced; nor is it ever seen 
when the sun is obscured. On various occasions 
I have watched the phenomenon with no little 
interest, with a view to account for it satisfac- 
torily. It is ascribed to a refraction of the 
atmosphere. I have observed that in some 
positions from the sun's rays, there appeared a 
kind of mysterious and flitting mist, rising to 
the height of two to four feet from the ground, 
and moving with great rapidity over the surface. 
The trees which appear on the ideal landscape, 
are the small shrubs of the desert. 

At two o'clock, P. M., of our tenth day, we 
had reached a more level and comparatively 
hard surface in the vicinity of Aba Ruk, where 
we met occasional sand hillocks with bushes 
upon them; the waters of Lake Menzaleh could 



388 



THE MIRAGE OF THE DESERT. 



be seen in the distance. For the last two days, 
we had hardly seen a living thing beyond our 
caravan, except two or three crows, and one 
other small and lonely bird; nor had we, as on 
previous days, been able to procure flowers for 
our collections. This afternoon w r e were cheered 
with the sight of an approaching caravan, and 
steered our course over the pathless waste so as 
to speak the voyagers on this desert ocean. We 
found it to be the retinue of three English gen- 
tlemen bound from Cairo to Palestine. The 
pleasure of meeting a caravan is quite kindred 
to that of speaking a ship on the wide ocean, and 
that pleasure is heightened when you are greeted 
in your own vernacular. We had been more 
than two months without European intelligence, 
and as we passed, our inquiries respecting the 
busy world in the West were eagerly propounded. 
Before sunset we selected a place for encamp- 
ment for the night, and the following morning, 
rising early, at eight o'clock, A. M., we left our 
camp ground and proceeded on our way. We 
were now on the confines of "the land of 
Goshen," and the aspect of the desert was 
changing. In much of our route hitherto the 
desert had been chiefly composed of shifting 
sands, with a surface not unlike the surges of 
the ocean, now level, now swelling, and then in 
more abrupt ridges. At twelve o'clock, M., 
we reached a well of water, used by the 



THE MIRAGE OF THE DESERT. 



389 



Arabs. There we rested a few minutes and 
lunched. 

On this spot there were a number of low palm 
trees, a sure indication of water. "We had be- 
fore us a comparatively level region of dark 
hard pan, covered more or less thickly with 
pebbles, small and broken silicous stones, and 
bits of scoria. I took care to procure a good 
sample of the heterogeneous mass, which I now 
have in my cabinet. A portion of this region 
may have been anciently brought under pro- 
cesses of irrigation and culture by means of 
wells, and we were not very distant from the 
waters of the ancient canal which once con- 
nected the Nile with the Red Sea at Suez. 
That early work is attributed to Sesostris. It 
not improbably existed in the time of the 
Exodus. It was in this vicinity that Joseph 
met his father Jacob, as the latter went down 
to sojourn in Egypt. 

c; And J oseph made ready his chariot, and 
went up to meet Israel his father to Goshen, 
and presented himself unto him; and he fell on 
his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. 
And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, 
since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet 
alive. 55 A touching example of paternal and 
filial love, in primitive and patriarchal days. 

But to return to my narrative: soon after 
being again adjusted on our camels, — whose 



390 



THE MIRAGE OF THE DESERT. 



backs have one good property at least, as they 
afford a fine place for observation, if no other 
comfortable quality attaches to the position — 
to our joy, we espied, as we conceived, a beauti- 
ful and extensive sheet of water, interspersed 
and lined w T ith trees. To us, who had for ten 
days been looking out on a desert, the scene was 
quite exciting. Under the bright rays of the 
sun our water had a glare on it like a molten 
sea. Our discovery was quickly announced to 
our dragoman, w r ho, to our no little vexation for 
his stupidity, denied that there was any water 
there. To convince him of his ignorance, our 
maps were quickly drawn forth, and he was 
assured that we w r ere correct and no mistake! 
But in the midst of our discussion, as we pro- 
ceeded, to our astonishment, the vision of beauty 
had vanished from our gaze. Other scenes 
were presented for our admiration, and we 
awoke to the consciousness that we had before 
us that wonderful optical illusion the Mirage of 
the Desert. 



CHAPTEE XL. 



DATES THE a WILD HONEY " OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 1 

In the prosecution of a general itinerancy 
through that land of peculiar and sacred rela- 
tions, Palestine, the traveller often finds himself 
amid scenes of thrilling interest. Among the 
many incidents of this character, which occurred 
in an excursion from Jerusalem to Jericho and 
the Jordan, the mission of John the Baptist, as 
well as the food which sustained him, came pro- 
minently before our minds for consideration; and 
we have noted down some impressions on these 
subjects, which were suggested by our personal 
observation of that interesting locality of his 
advent as the harbinger of the Messiah. 

We shall crave the indulgence of the reader 
w T hile we attempt to present these impressions 
to his consideration; entering here our humble 

1 This chapter was originally prepared for " The Presby- 
terian Quarterly Keview," and published in No. III. Yol. I. 
December, 1852. The reader will find some repetition of 
what is contained in previous chapters, as I have thought it 
desirable to present the article entire in its original form. 



392 DATES THE "WILD HONEY " 

caveat, that, as ours is the sphere of the layman, 
we must not be held responsible for nice classic 
or theological accuracies in presenting our 
statements. 

Our simple aim is to elicit truth; our special 
object to prove that the " wild honey," which, 
with locusts, was the food of the Baptist, is 
to be found in the fruit of the palm tree — 
Dates. 

The character of J ohn, and that of his mis- 
sion, were alike remarkable; himself the subject 
of prophecy in the unique office he was destined 
to fill, as at once the herald to prepare the way, 
and a witness to testify to the Jewish people the 
appearance of their long-expected Messiah. The 
garb he wore, and the food he ate, have each, 
and often, been a theme for discussion, while the 
facts in the premises have been imperfectly un- 
derstood. The theatre, too, on which he is 
introduced to our notice, the wilderness of Judea, 
no less than the personage himself and the office 
he sustains, may well excite our interest and 
deserve our special attention. 

We read the Bible as we read other history, 
with American and not Oriental eyes; and so 
the scenery we find there portrayed is often im- 
perfectly apprehended. This remark, we con- 
ceive, is specially applicable to the wilderness in 
question. Apart from this, however, it has 
doubtless often appeared strange and inex- 



OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 393 

plicable that a wilderness, and especially such 
as that is found to be, should have been 
selected by Infinite Wisdom for the accom- 
plishment of such designs of mercy; and 
the sceptic might speciously ask questions in 
this relation to which every lover of revelation, 
and possibly some of its expounders, might 
not be prepared to give a satisfactory solu- 
tion, and so "justify the ways of God to man." 
The same is equally true, also, in regard to 
the food indicated in the account of the Evan- 
gelist. 

It is to the Christian a cheering consideration 
that new proofs of the inspired authority and 
accuracy of the sacred Scriptures are constantly 
developed. What seemed contradictory has 
been found harmonious; what seemed unreason- 
able and incredible to the infidel objector, has 
been shown to be founded on reasons the 
most satisfactory and conclusive. All the re- 
search of the traveller, and all the investigations 
of science, we feel assured, are yet to be made 
tributary to the honour of the sacred page. We 
have travelled over the scenes of Scripture 
record in Palestine, with the Bible open, and 
this conviction was deeply impressed upon us as 
the result. 

Much information illustrative of the historic 
and narrative portions of the Bible, is yet to be 
derived from a more accurate acquaintance with 



394: 



DATES THE "WILD HONEY " 



the topography of Palestine and other parts of 
the Orient connected with Biblical history. Our 
countryman, Dr. Robinson, has done much in 
this field of investigation, and we may hope that 
his recent sojourn there will be productive of 
rich results. A knowledge of the physical 
structure of the country in general, or of par- 
ticular localities, when well understood, will 
often shed new interest and delight on the 
pursuits of the Scripture student. V/ e believe 
the theatre of John's first " preaching n — the 
wilderness of Judea — no less than the food 
which there and elsewhere sustained him 5 
are topics have needed just the kind of elucida- 
tion to which we refer. 

We will not detain the reader, nor linger long 
in an attempt to portray the thrilling sensations 
or the eager gaze of the pilgrim in Palestine, 
as he visits the numerous places of unequalled 
interest there found. Arrived within the 
precincts of the sacred city, he will quickly be 
attracted to the sides and summits of Olivet, 
that triple-topped mount so often pressed by the 
footsteps of "the man of sorrows" as he went 
forth on errands of mercy. When he has 
reached that interesting point of observation, 
the summit of its central elevation, he will be 
twenty-five hundred feet above the Mediterran- 
ean, and four thousand above the adjacent 
Jordan-valley and Dead Sea. Directing his 



OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



395 



eye eastward, he will see the high table-land or 
mountains of Moab, Ammon, and Gilead, on 
the east side of the valley of the Jordan. They 
are more than thirty miles in the distance, but 
seen through the clear ether of an eastern sky 
they hardly appear ten. 

In the deep recesses of the valley a narrow 
strip of vegetation marks the devious path of 
the Jordan. Eut between these distant and 
interesting scenes and the mount, the visitor 
will behold an extensive region of high, steep 
and naked hills stretching along on the western 
side of the Jordan-valley and the Dead Sea, 
presenting one wide field of barrenness. 

This drear and desolate region is " the wil- 
derness of Judea," a region still in perfect keep- 
ing with the poetic description of David in the 
sixty-third Psalm; " a dry and thirsty land where 
no water is" We might here also cite from 
Josephus, who gives a like description of it as it 
appeared in his day. In fact, these lofcy peaks 
bear conclusive evidence that they have ever 
presented the same sterile aspect. Not a soli- 
tary village occupies their summits or slopes, no 
verdant forest or field clothes their sides. No 
cool perennial stream refreshes those deep val- 
leys and gorges. When we performed our 
journey from Jerusalem " down to Jericho," our 
path lay directly over this wide waste; nor did 
we find it any the more inviting on a nearer 



396 DATES THE "WILD HONEY " 

approach. Had we traversed it unprotected we 
should, in all human probability, have realized 
another peculiarity of its ancient character. 
Like him in the parable of the Good Samaritan 
of old, we should have " fallen among thieves." 

As we passed along the deep gorges and over 
the rough ridges and crooked pathways of this 
" highway of the desert" trodden by more than a 
hundred generations of men, we needed to en- 
tertain little doubt as to what scenery the 
" evangelical prophet*" had in his thoughts when 
the fortieth chapter of Isaiah was penned. 
The graphic scenery portrayed in these predic- 
tions finds here its illustration. On this great 
highway in the wilderness, we feel quite assured, 
w r e may locate the pulpit of the Baptist; and the 
more mature consideration of our first impres- 
sions has the more deeply confirmed them. 

We believe the true idea of John's public 
labours, here and elsewhere, is that he was em- 
phatically a wayside or highway preacher. " He 
came neither eating bread nor drinking wine;" 
mingled not in the usual associations of men, 
but in the prosecution of his peculiar mission 
posted himself on the large and most frequented 
thoroughfares, and there made his announce- 
ments to the passing throngs; by whom they 
would be quickly heralded far and wide through 
the land. We may well assume that John would 
charge them to the performance of a service so 



OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



397 



welcome to the expectant nation. In the 
language of Isaiah, in the chapter just cited: 
" thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get 
thee up into the high mountain; thou that 
tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy 
voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say 
unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!" 
We quote here the marginal rendering of Isa. 
40: 9. If we are correct in this view, it involves 
important suggestions on the interesting topic 
of John's baptism, especially its mode, Mark, 1: 
4; but as that theme is foreign to our present 
object, we may not pursue it. We fell warrant- 
ed in the assumption, then, that it was on this 
remarkable spot, the ancient road or pathway 
from Jerusalem to Jericho, a place so perfectly 
accordant with ancient prophecy respecting the 
" messenger" who was to prepare the way of 
" Messiah," that the Baptist commenced his 
public ministry. Did our space admit, we be- 
lieve it might easily be demonstrated that it was 
the best position in the land to secure the ends 
designed. 

Properly eclaircised, we do not believe the 
simple statements of the Evangelists in regard 
to the raiment or the food of J ohn were designed 
to fling any mysterious veil around them, or 
over the minds of succeeding ages in regard to 
either. Laying aside the flowing and ostenta- 
tious robes of the priesthood of his day, to which 



398 DATES THE f ^WILD HONEY " 

order by birthright he appertained, we find him 
clothed in the most simple and rustic attire; and 
this we believe is all that the Evangelists in- 
tended to imply; and sustained on a diet equally 
simple, " locusts and wild honey." To this last 
named article of his diet, we will now invite the 
attention of the reader. 

To ascertain the true import of all Scripture 
statements is ever a most desirable object, 
especially in relations where erroneous views 
give room for the infidel to carp, or an occasion 
for the honest inquirer to stumble. We hope 
in the sequel, to make reasonably apparent, what 
we believe to be true in fact, that the "wild 
honey" in question was simply new gathered 
dates, fresh from i£ the field;" a wholesome, pal- 
atable and nutritious article of food; the most 
convenient as well as easily procured; needing 
no culinary art; in fact, the best possible selec- 
tion for a simple diet to supply the necessities 
of J ohn in the peculiarities of his habits and his 
circumstances; so that the statements of the 
Evangelists, when understood, leave no room 
here for cavil or distrust. 

It seems not a little remarkable that the word 
fi£\i, honey, does not occur in the Greek of the 
New Testament in more than four instances. We 
have in Matt. 3: 4, and in Mark, 1: 6, the 
aypiov, " wild honey," now under consideration? 
and in Rev. 10: 9-10, the simple form i*e\i 



OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



399 



occurs. In Luke 24: 42, we have iiEkuroiov 
Krjpiov, honeycomb full of honey. We will here 
suggest an inquiry, which seems naturally to 
arise in this place. If bees' honey, or honey in 
the comb, was intended to be designated by 
Matthew and Mark as the food of the Baptist, 
whether it is not probable that they would have 
adopted one or both of these terms, rather than 
the one they have used? 

In this state of the argument, without a pre- 
cedent in New Testament usage, in order to 
arrive at a correct solution of the subject, we 
are under the necessity of directing our inquiries 
to the collateral terms in the Hebrew Scriptures 
and in the Septuagint version, and to the author- 
ity of Hebrew and Greek lexicographers. If 
we mistake not, an examination of this kind will 
ascertain a meaning attached to the original 
Hebrew translated " honey " in our version, 
which has generally been overlooked; and we 
ask the indulgence of the reader while we refer 
to the several texts of this kind which we have 
carefully collated and examined in the Hebrew, 
and compared in the Septuagint. 

There are three words in the Hebrew Scrip- 
tures rendered honey, in our version, Debash, 
Yaar, and rti Nopeth. The form -z-Debash 
is almost universally used, as we shall see, even 
when the other forms occur in connection. It 
seems to be a generic term to indicate all sweets, 



4.00 DATES THE "WILD HONEY " 

especially of sticky substances. This definition 
has the authority of Gesenius: "sbi Debash, 
honey, so called, as being glutinous, like a 
kneaded mass, Arabic Dibs, Maltese Dabsi, 
yellow, that is honey-coloured. 1 . The honey 
of bees, etc. 2. Honey of grapes, syrup, the 
newly-expressed juice of grapes boiled down. 
3. Joined with milk as the spontaneous produc- 
tions of nature," Robinson's Gesenius. Other 
lexicographers say " to join together, to adhere, 
cement, or stick fast, as glutinous substances. 5 ' 

We think there could be no better description 
of the sweetmeat or pressed date. With these 
definitions before us, we are prepared to pursue 
the investigation, and examine the various texts 
in the Old Testament, where these terms occur. 

Gen. 43: 11, " honey." Here the form is 
simply nan Debask, Sept. It appears from 

the context that the luxuries of Jacob's table 
were not yet entirely exhausted; for he directs 
his sons to present to the ruler of Egypt "of the 
best fruits of the land, a little balm and a little 
honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds." 
The articles here enumerated seem all to be the 
fruits or productions of trees. In reference to 
this text we find in Kitto, v. i. 384, the following 
remarks: " From the fact that Egypt produced 
an abundance of honey, we may be led to sup- 
pose that the more valuable date-honey is here 
intended, which is rarely found in Egypt." * The 



OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



The conclusion seems correct; but the reasons 
assigned are doubtful, as the date has abounded 
in Egypt from the earliest periods, though the 
custom of preparing it as a sweetmeat may not 
have been introduced into Egypt at this early day. 

We introduce here a note on this text from 
Bagter's Comprehensive Bible: "am Debask, 
honey, is supposed by Bochart and Celsius not 
to have been that produced by bees, but a sweet 
syrup produced from dates when in maturity. 
The Jewish (Talmudic) doctors observed that 
the word ©an II Chron. 31: 5, properly signifies 
dates; and the Arabians now call the choicest 
dates, prepared with butter, «w Dabous, and 
the honey (syrup) obtained from them em 
Dibs" I have been assured by a very intelli- 
gent and reliable man, who is a native of Beth- 
lehem, and has travelled extensively in Palestine, 
that the Arabs call a preparation of butter and 
dates — Dabous, as here stated. He also says 
that any luscious preparation is by the Arab 
called Dabous. Jacob sojourned probably in 
the southern part of the land. The date-palm 
was no doubt extensively cultivated on the 
Philistine plain, the climate of which is very 
mild. We found considerable numbers of them 
still existing in various places on this plain. 

Exodus, 3: 8, wi Debash, Sept. ^7 L - By the 
expression "a land flowing with milk and honey," 
it is understood that general abundance is im- 

2 C 



d02 DATES THE "WILD H0XEY* 

plied in the products of the land of promise. 
For reasons which will appear when we examine 
Numb. 16: 13, 14. it would seem that dates are 
here specially intended, as well as other sweets. 

Ex. 16: 31. Debash, ttx% Sept. fAc The 
text simply expresses the fact that manna was 
agreeable in taste; sweet, like honey. 

Lev. 2: 11. *an Debash, Sept. <*&U- It will be 
observed that honey is strictly forbidden to be 
used with any offerings to the Lord made by fire. 

Num. 16: 12, 13. i«n Debash, Sept. p&c Here 
Dathan and Abiram allege that they had been 
brought out of "alandflowingwithmilkandhoney" 

We were not in Egypt at the season that the 
date is produced. They ripen there in Septem- 
ber and October; but when at Malta we pro- 
cured some good specimens of African dates as 
growing upon their stems, which are now in 
good preservation. The tree is an indigene, 
unisexual; and is said to bear ten or twelve 
bunches every year, each of which will weigh 
fiom ten to twenty-five pounds. They grow 
pendant from the tree at its top, and attached 
to the stem, as seeds to our broom-corn; like 
other fruits they vary much in quality and size, 
growing from one to two inches long, round or 
oval in shape. As taken from the stems they 
are a good table fruit, and much in use, al- 
though comparatively dry in taste; when put in 
masses, they soon become more soft and honey- 



OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



403 



ed in their colour and taste. They are sugary, 
nourishing, very wholesome, and require no 
preparation. When pressed, old, and passed 
through the stages of sweating, as they are al- 
ways seen in this country, every one familiar 
with them knows their striking resemblance to 
old and candid honey in colour and taste. The 
inhabitants of Egypt at the present day subsist 
on them to a great extent, and the whole coun- 
try abounds with trees, We found them on our 
first reaching the waters of the ancient canal 
that connected the Nile with the Red Sea at 
Suez, and on the Pelusium branch of the Nile, 
in " the land of Goshen.'" 

The margin of the desert is skirted with 
thick masses of the date-palm, where they seem 
to stand as a bulwark against the sands which 
threaten to overwhelm the narrow belt of vege- 
tation and fertility. There, in ancient days, 
we have the best reason to believe, the Israelites 
were wont to see them, if in later stages of their 
" hard bondage" they were debarred from sub- 
sisting upon them. 

Deut. 6: 3. or? Debash, Sept. The same 

form as Ex. 3: 8. 

Deut. 8: 7, 8. m Debdsh, Sept. piku "A 
land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig 
trees and pomegranates; a land of oil olive 
(olive tree of oil) and honey. Dates seem here 
specially intended, »an Debash, is here in the 



404 



DATES THE u WILD HONEY" 



category of the fruits of trees. The order of 
style and laws of language seem to imply this. 
Moses spake these glowing words of encourage- 
ment to the homeless tribes of the land of their 
hope and destination. He seems to say to 
them, " Prolific as is the soil of Egypt, where 
we and our fathers have so long sojourned, 
abounding as it does with milk and honey — 
dates and other sweets — yet there you were 
slaves, deprived of the enjoyment of these luxur- 
ies, doomed to toil on a narrow and monotonous 
strip of fertility, bounded on either side by a 
dreary, boundless and monotonous desert. How 
cheering in the contrast is the land to which 
we now hasten; 6 for the Lord thy God bringeth 
thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, 
of fuuntains, and depths that spring out of the 
valleys and hills. 5 " 

Deut. 32: 13. em Debash. The honey of 
bees may be indicated. The context, however, 
shows that the language is highly figurative, and 
a poetic license may be here presumed, for oil 
too is said to come " out of the flinty rock." 

Judg. 14: 8. Here the text expressly de- 
clares that there was a swarm of bees, brm De- 
vorim, ©an and Debash, honey. Sept. fieXuTcruv^ 
Melisson. Up to this text we find the LXX. 
use the simple form in the translation of 
03-7. Here we find the discrimination "made by 
bees." 



OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



405 



I Sam. 14: 25-29. In the 25th verse it is 
simply said there was nan honey, upon the 
ground. Sept. jueXccrow. Here again the 
Septuagint discriminates, and we find the simple 
Heb. ©ai rendered "honey made by bees," in 
accordance with the context. 

In the 26th verse we are told that the honey 
dropped, that is, from the limb or hollow of the 
tree, where it had been deposited; and in the 
27th verse that it was vttimm beyaarath hade- 
bash, "honey in a honey comb." The honey of 
bees we see is here very expressly indicated. 
This form occurs in Cant. 5: 1. 

II Sam. 17: 29. ran Debash. Sept. piku As 
the articles enumerated in the context were sent 
to satisfy the hunger of David and his company, 
it may be that the honey here indicated was the 
sweetmeat or pressed date, 

I Kings 14: 3. ©a- Debash simply. 

II Chron. SI: 5. Debash. Sept. peXiroe. 
In this instance ©m is rendered dates in the 
marginal readings by our translators, the ob- 
vious propriety of which will be apparent when 
it is compared with Ex. 22: 29. " Thou shalt 
not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits." 
We will here remark that it was the marginal 
reading of this text, in connection with Jose- 
phus' observations on the palm trees of Jericho, 
which first suggested this investigation. "We 
find the following note on this text in Bagster's 



406 



DATES THE u "WILD HONEY" 



Comprehensive Bible: " Honey or dates. The 
word »m Debash generally denotes honey pro- 
duced by bees; but, as we have already observed 
on Gen. 43: 11, the Jewish Doctors are of opin- 
ion that it here signifies dates, or the fruit of 
the palm-tree, which the Arabians call Daboos, 
and the honey (syrup) produced from them Dibs. 
Though Jehovah forbade any »sn Debash or 
honey to be offered to him upon the altar, yet 
it appears it might be presented as "first-fruits," 
or in the way of tithes, which were designed 
for the sustenance of the priests." 

Job, 20: 17. HKWmaati Honey and butter 
are here united, indicating a combination pro- 
bably in frequent use among the Arabs. We 
have seen in the note quoted from Bagster, on 
Gen. 43: 11, that the Arabs call a preparation 
of their choicest dates and butter Dabous, & cus- 
tom and name which has probably come down 
from the days of Job. 1 

1 As affording an incidental proof of the correctness of the 
views we have endeavoured to establish in our last chapter, 
we have had occasion to refer to the identity of the Bedouin, 
or Arab character, peculiarly in his unchanged modes of life 
and domestic habits. 

Throughout the vast regions to which the Arabs have 
roamed, this identity is most remarkable, involving, without 
a peradventure, that this character and these customs have 
been handed down from generation to generation, for thou- 
sands of years, without hardly a perceptible change in any 
of their aspects. Whether we contemplate them on the bar- 
ren deserts of Arabia, or the more fertile plains of Mesopo- 
tamia, the identity is perfect. Describe the character and 
habits of domestic life of the one, and you perfectly portray 



OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



407 



Psa. 19: 10. witm*. Here the Psalmist 
expresses, in strong and figurative language, 
his estimates of the judgments of Jehovah; 
sweeter than Debask, honey, and, or even than, 
Nopeth, the honey comb or dripping honey. 
Here we have two kinds of honey distinctly re- 
cognized in the swelling gradations of the poetfs 
style. This form occurs in Prov. 5: 3; 24: 13; 
27: 7; and Cant. 4: 2. 

Prov. 24: 13, same as above, eat honey, and 
or even, the honey comb, the dropping honey. 

Cant. 5: 1. " I have eaten my honey 
comb," nan Yaar. Sept. wpiov, " with my honey " 
Dabshi, two kinds of honey mingled in the 
luxuries of a banquet. 

Isa, 7: 15, 22. Butter and honey. See Job, 
20: 17. 

the other. We find these remarks fully sustained in read- 
ing Mr. Layard's recent and very interesting volume on 
" Nineveh and Babylon," which we have found time to take 
up for examination since our book went to the press. 

Mr. Layard has given us in Chapter XIII, a brief account 
of the character and modes of life of the great Bedouin tribes 
inhabiting Mesopotamia, including the region explored by 
him extending considerably north of Mosul. 

For our present purpose we shall here extract one brief 
item of his remarks as pertinent to our topic; 

" The Sheikhs," he says, " occasionally obtain dates from 
the cities. They are eaten dry with bread and leben (dried 
milk curds) or fried in butter, a very favourite dish with the 
Bedouin" 

We regret that Mr : Layard has not given us the Arab de- 
signation of this favourite dish. Had he done so we have 
no doubt that we should have " Dabous" again reproduced 
in these distant regions of the old Assyrian empire. 



408 



DATES THE 4t WILD HONEY " 



Jer. 41: 8. Eze. 3: 3, and 16: 13. In 
these instances and several others, we find the 
simple form torn. There is nothing in the con- 
text specially to discriminate the kind of honey. 

Eze. 27: 17. w Debash. We have here 
in the category of the fruits or production of 
trees, honey, oil and balm. Allusion may be 
made to the date-tree in the pictorial descrip- 
tions in chap. 47: 12. 

Under the article "honey," Oalmet says: 
" By the word rcm Debash, the rabbins and lexi- 
cographers understand not only the honey of 
bees, but the honey of dates or the fruit of the 
palm-tree, or the dates themselves, from which 
honey is extracted; and when God enjoins the 
first fruits of honey to be offered to him, the 
fruit of dates seems to be meat, for generally 
the produce only of fruits was offered." Kitto 
quotes this and adds: "The Arabs also still 
apply Dibs to the dates, and the honey of 
dates.' 5 

Sir John Maundevile, who visited Palestine, 
Arabia and India, about A. D. 1322, more 
than five hundred years ago, in his narrative 
says: " There ben other trees that baren hony, 
gode and swete.'' If dates are not here intend- 
ed, it proves at least a generic use of the term 
honey at that period in the Orient. 

We will here also introduce a quotation from 
Josephus, to which we have before referred. In 



OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 409 

an apparently incidental account which he gives 
of the Jordan valley and Jericho, speaking of 
the prolific fountain of Elisha at Jericho, and 
of its fructifying powers, he says: " Accordingly 
it waters a larger space of ground than any 
other waters do, and passes along a plain of 
seventy furlongs long, and twenty broad; 1 
wherein it affords nourishment to those excellent 
gardens that are thick set with trees. There 
are in it many sorts of palm-trees, that are 
watered by it, different from each other in taste 
and name; the better sort of them, when they are 
pressed, yield an excellent kind of honey, not 
much inferior in sweetness to other kinds of 
honey.' 5 2 There can be no doubt that he here 
refers to the date-palm, and states the fact that 
the pressed sweetmeat or the candied date was 
honey not much inferior in sweetness to the 
honey of bees, for in the immediate connection 
he adds, "this country withal produces honey 
from bees.' 5 

The climate of this part of the J ordan valley, 
in its deep depression of thirteen hundred feet 
below the Mediterranean, is almost tropical; its 
incessant heats w T ould render that portion of it 
around J ericho, which is still abundantly sup- 
plied with water from this same beautiful and 

1 A very near description of the region we now find cap- 
able of artificial irrigation from the fountains of Duk and 
Elisha. 

2 Book of Wars, iv ; chap. 8, 



410 



DATES THE CC WILD HONEY" 



prolific fountain of Elisha, peculiarly adapted to 
the rearing of the palm. 

It would appear that in several varieties the 
palm was here indigenous to the soil, for we learn 
also that in the early days of Moses, they so 
abounded as to give to Jericho the cogno- 
men of " City of Palm-trees." It is a striking 
commentary on the character of its present 
wretched Bedouin Arab inhabitants, that a tree 
so invaluable for producing a nutritious and 
agreeable article of food should have been al- 
lowed to become extinct, The dry trunk of the 
last tree on the plain was standing near our en- 
campment when we visited Jericho. Dr. Shaw 
says there were several palm-trees at Jericho 
when he visited the plain. 

It would thus seem that the word rendered 
honey by our translators, is generic in the Heb- 
rew Scriptures, a comprehensive term for all 
sweets; that it more frequently indicates dates 
than the honey of bees; and that when the 
latter honey is intended to be indicated, it is 
generally, if not always, accompanied with the 
qualifying terms; and there seems to be evidence 
that the LXX so used it in the Septuagint ver- 
sion. We have seen in the quotation from 
Josephus, that the palm-tree produced what was 
designated honey in the days of John the Baptist. 

We have evidence from various quarters, that 
the Hebrew V2~, Debash, has virtually come down 



OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



411 



to the present day in the cognate language of 
the Arabs, in the term Dibs, as applied by them 
to designate dates and other sweet substances, 
as also in the Dabsi of the Maltese. The native 
language of Malta seems to be a compound of 
Arabic and Italian; but so closely assimilates 
with the Arabic, that the islanders are under- 
stood by the Arabs without difficulty. 

Dr. Shaw says: " Hebron alone sends every 
year to Egypt three hundred camel-loads of 
Rabb, which they c&YlDibse, the same word that 
is rendered honey in the Scriptures." Travels, 
p. 367* There is some evidence that the Greek 
collateral term honey, was not only used 
by the LXX in a comprehensive sense, but that 
it has classic authority; " T6 Zov f.ie\i 9 the Per- 
sian manna; and metaphorically of any thing 
sweet" Liddell and Scott s Lex. Sub. voce jue'Xi. 
Diodorus Siculus xix, 104, uses aypiov for 
the saccharine matter exuding from date-palm 
or olive trees. Pliny, N. H. xxiii, 4, and the 
Eabbinical writers, do the same. 

Theophrastus, a distinguished naturalist, who 
lived B. 0. 370, in describing the syrup of the 
sugar cane, says, " It is a sort of p&<- honey, ex- 
tracted from canes and reeds." 

Strabo, on the authority of Nearchus, one of 
the captains of Alexander the Great, says, 
" Reeds in India, yield, p&h honey without 
bees. 9 ' 



412 DATES THE u WILD HOXEY" 

We might here show that the honey of bees, 
as an article of food, is entirely unadapted per- 
manently to sustain the healthful action of the 
human system; and, moreover, that it was prin- 
cipally used as a luxury by the J ews, as it is 
by the Arabs of the present day, to sweeten 
their unleavened bread and drinks. It deserves 
to be remembered, too, that the Arabs, in their 
domestic customs, have brought down to us 
nearly all the peculiar habits of the Jews un- 
changed. It is only in this form that the 
honey of bees is used by them, and not as a 
substantial element of nutrition; while dates are 
the principal food of thousands in the Orient 
for many months in the year. 

Apparently, to get over the insuperable diffi- 
culties of the texts, Matth. 3: 4, and Mark 1: 6, 
as referring to the honey of bees, some learned 
commentators and lexicographers tell us, that 
this yuAt aypLov^ on which the Baptist fed, was a 
vegetable honey, or manna, and not the honey 
of bees. Kitto says, "'the wild honey (meli 
agrion) which, with locusts, formed the diet of 
John the Baptist, was probably the vegetable 
honey, which we refer to manna." V. 1, 859. 
Dr. Robinson, in his Greek and English Lexi- 
con of the Xew Testament, remarks on pAi 
ayplov: « Here the honey of wild bees is to be 
understood, made in hollow trees and crevices 
of the rocks; others understand Honey Dew, 



OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



413 



found in Arabia upon leaves of certain species 
of trees,'' etc. But he remarks, " the evidence 
is very slight that this was ever common in 
Judea.and especially in the high desert west of the 
Dead Sea." Our observation led us to concur 
entirely in this last remark; this Wilderness of 
Judea has ever been "a dry and thirsty land 
where no water is," and where trees or even 
shrubs have hardly been produced. 

But could we have reason to believe that 
vegetable honey, as it is termed, or manna, had 
been found here, it would not relieve the diffi- 
culty; from what is known of it, its qualities are 
highly medicinal. " The Arabs use it as they 
do honey, to pour over their unleavened bread, 
or to dip their bread into it; if eaten in any 
quantity it is said to be highly purgative; 5 
Kitto, v. 2, p. 294. He refers also to several 
other productions of like character. We find 
in Sir John Maundevile's Narrative the follow- 
ing remarks in his description of the land of Job: 
" There ben hilles, where men getten gret 
plentee of manna — this manna is clept bred of 
Aungeles — it comethe of the dew of Hevene 
that fallethe upon the Herbes — men putten it 
in Medicynes for rich men, to purge evylle 
Blode; for it cleanseth the Blode, and putteth 
out Malencolye." 

From the want of knowledge, or having over- 
looked the peculiar qualities and use of the date, 



414: 



DATES THE " WILD HONEY" 



in ancient as well as in modern times, it ap- 
pears that the investigations of the learned to 
ascertain the food of John, have carried some 
of them far away into deserts of uncertainty and 
barrenness, when a more simple view would 
have revealed the object of their search at the 
very threshold. 

We shall probably be met with this objection: 
If dates are meant by the Evangelists, how are 
we to reconcile the apparent difficulties of their 
being designated " wild honey" ? We might 
answer, that we do not believe that the Jews 
knew any thing of the custom of domesticating 
the bee, and in that respect all their honey from 
the bee was field-honey, and if so, there was no 
need of the use of the adjective to discriminate 
it, if bees 5 honey alone is intended. We reply, 
however, to the objection, that it would doubtless 
have been equally proper to have rendered 
ayptov 9 field-honey, or " honey from the field," 
and then we conceive we have the very designa- 
tion which we might expect to have been ap- 
plied to new gathered dates, "fresh from the 
field," and on their natural stems, in distinction 
from the old sweetmeat, the candied, sweated, 
and pressed date. 

We have seen that they are produced from 
the palm-tree, growing on pendant stems, of 
several pounds in weight, one of which would 
afford food to John for several days. 



OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



415 



That the date abounded at Jericho, in the 
immediate vicinity of the labours of the Bap- 
tist, there can be no doubt. They were thus 
easily obtained, portable, simple, nutritious, and 
needing no culinary art. We will here add a 
remark omitted in its proper place, that the date- 
bearing palm and olive-tree were the most essential 
of the fruit-bearing trees of Palestine, and if 
the date was tithed, it must have been under 
the designation of »m Debash. Dr. Shaw says, 
p. 370: " Several parts of the Holy Land, no 
less than Idumea, that lies contiguous to it, are 
described by the ancients as abounding with 
date-trees. Thus Judea, which denotes the 
whole country of the Jews, is typified on several 
coins of Vespasian, by a disconsolate woman 
sitting under a palm-tree. Upon the Greek 
coin of his son Titus, struck upon a like oc- 
casion, we see a shield suspended over a palm- 
tree, with a Victory writing upon it.'** The 
climate of the Philistine plain is well suited to 
the production of the palm. We noticed many 
of them still existing, particularly in the vicinity 
of Gaza. 

It may not be improper here to say, that the 
substance of these views has been suggested to 
a Missionary who has spent more than thirty 
years in the Orient, and who is familiar with 
the date and its use as fresh from the field, and 
in its honeyed or sweetmeat state, and that he 



416 "wild honey" OF JOHN the baptist. 

concurs in the views here taken. We are ad- 
monished by the space already occupied, that 
this discussion, although by no means exhaust- 
ed, must be referred to other hands, satisfied 
with our imperfect efforts, if they shall lead to 
a more correct elucidation of an interesting 
portion of God's Holy Word. 



b 



THE END, 



William Collins & Co.. Printers, Glasgow. 



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